My Hero Hyrule
by Raolin1994
Summary: During Class 1-A's mission to rescue Bakugo, something went terribly wrong. The next thing Izuku knew, he was in a weird blue chamber with a blond guy sleeping in a tub. What happened to his friends? To All Might? Did the League of Villains have them, or had something else happened?
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

"_Have you come to kill me again, All Might?"_

Izuku's eyes snapped open and he lunged to his feet, looking around wildly. Where were the others? Where was the League? They had to get Kacchan and get out of there before anyone else got hurt!

When he wasn't immediately attacked, Izuku slowly began to calm down and take stock of his surroundings. One thing was immediately obvious: he wasn't in Kamino Ward anymore.

Instead of hiding behind the ruined remnants of a wall with his friends, he was standing in a room unlike any he had seen before. The room itself was longer than it was wide, with what looked like a locked gate of some kind in the wall nearest him. The gray walls, floor, and ceiling were all incredibly smooth and seemed to be made from some sort of metallic material. Four pillars of the same material were located in the corners of the room, covered by ornate stonework that was almost reminiscent of brain matter. On the other side of the room next to the door was a small pedestal that Izuku couldn't begin to guess the function of.

By far the most interesting portion of the room was at the rear of the chamber. An ornate tub made from the same black-and-brown stonework as the floor and walls sat in the rear-center of the room, with a large, glowing range hood extending down over the tub, leaving just enough room for someone to sit up.

"Okay, something clearly happened when All Might and All For One collided back in Kamino," Izuku muttered. "Did All For One use his teleportation quirk on us? No, that doesn't make sense; he said that it only brought others to and from his own location, and he didn't know we were there. Kurogiri's quirk, maybe? But he was unconscious. That couldn't be it."

He thought back. The last thing he could remember was All Might fighting with One For All. He frowned. Something had happened when they had collided. The air had... warped? Not like when Kurogiri used his Quirk; this had been something else. His brow furrowed as he tried to remember. The air had twisted around them... there had been a pulling sensation, and then lights. Many different lights near him, and uncounted others further away. He had drawn closer to one of them, a brilliant green-and-gold spark, while those closest to him had pulled away. He had reached out to touch the spark and then... nothing. He couldn't remember anything between that and waking up here.

Wherever 'here' was. He glanced around the room, eyes taking in the odd, curving stonework and the constellation-like patterns of red lights on the wall again before coming to a rest on the tub. "If I can get out of this room, I might be able to figure out how I got here. I wonder if that thing activates the pedestal or opens the door?"

He wandered over to the tub, squinting against the blue light that the hood and interior of the tub exuded. After a few moments of squinting, his eyes adjusted enough to see inside, and he gasped. Inside the basin, floating in blue liquid, was a man.

Izuku narrowed his eyes. "This is probably one of those people that All For One kidnapped. I need to get him out of here." He reached out to pull the man from the vat, and ran abruptly into an invisible wall. He frowned and pushed on it. The barrier didn't move.

"Okay, so he's trapped in there. Think, Izuku. There has to be some sort of controls to open the machine." A brief search revealed a small slot on the other side of the tub, though what went into it, he didn't know.

"I guess the key is somewhere else? Looks like I'll need to figure a way out before I can save him." He left the vat alone for the moment and went to examine the door, though it was unlike any he had ever seen before. Instead of something that swung on hinges, this door appeared to be made up of several stone slabs that slid into the top and bottom of the door frame when open. The problem was, he couldn't find a way to open it. Even channeling a small amount of One For All—a major relief to the boy, who had started to wonder if this is where All For One stole powers from people—to his hands didn't help. The door remained obstinately closed. Examining the pedestal didn't help either. There was some sort of slate or tablet engraved with a stylized eye resting on the surface, but it was clamped into place and didn't move at all when Izuku tried to wiggle it free. He was sure that that was the key to leaving, but couldn't figure out how to get it out without breaking it.

Finally, he sat back on the floor, stymied. He briefly considered using One For All to smash his way out, but quickly discarded the idea. If he was in All For One's lair, he wanted to sneak out if at all possible. Plus, All For One would have had his quirk in mind when designing a cell for him. For all intents and purposes, it looked like he was stuck here until somebody came for him or to check on the person in the tank. He sighed and pulled out one of his notebooks. If he was stuck here, he might as well be productive.

* * *

Several hours later, Izuku got up and stretched, groaning as his muscles protested the sudden change in position. He'd finished outlining what he knew about the League's powers and was ready for them when they came for him.

"Nothing to do now but look the room over again," he said quietly. "I wasn't thinking too clearly when I first looked over everything. I bet I missed something important."

Another few minutes of searching didn't turn anything up, except that he was pretty sure that the tablet thing in the pedestal could be inserted into the slot in the vat, though that left him where he started.

"I hope the others are doing better than I am," he muttered, staring at the person he couldn't reach. "If they've been captured too, then maybe they've found a way to escape by now. I wouldn't be surprised if Todoroki or Yaoyorozu have figured something out; they're really smart, and Yaoyorozu's quirk is really good for situations like this. Mina could have melted her way out, too, but that could also have triggered alarms..."

Izuku trailed off, thinking too fast for his muttering to keep up. As his train of thought began to spiral, he heard the first sound that hadn't come from himself in hours. Startled to attention, he listened, hoping that it would repeat itself. After a few moments, he heard it again. He frowned. It sounded like... a woman's voice. But where was it coming from?

"_Open your eyes..."_

His frown deepened. Open his eyes? They were already open. Did they need to be opened wider? Or maybe he needed to look at something. The tablet, maybe?

"_Open your eyes."_

Nope, not the tablet. What else could he look at? There wasn't anything else in the room except the vat. He squinted. Was it glowing more brightly now?

"_Wake up, Link."_

"Link?" Izuku stared blankly at the definitely-brighter vat. "Who's Link?" The sound of running liquid filled his ears, along with a sudden realization. "The man in the bath!" He murmured, creeping toward the basin. Ahead of him, there was movement as the man—Link, apparently—sat up, blinking his eyes and peering around blearily.

Link climbed out of the tub and turned to face Izuku, freezing when he saw him. Izuku raised his hand in tentative greeting. "Hey."

Now that he wasn't submerged in glowing liquid, Izuku could actually get a good look at his new cell buddy. The blond man was bare from the waist up, revealing toned muscles and a fit figure. Izuku blushed, thankful that whoever had stuck him in the vat had at least left him his shorts. His attention was drawn away from the slumberer's figure to his eyes. The piercing blue depths seemed oddly fragmented, as if he knew many things, but was struggling to piece them together.

Izuku blinked, realizing that Link still hadn't moved and was watching him. "I-I'm Midoriya Izuku," he stammered. "Y-you're Link, right? Do you know where we are?"

The man watched Izuku for a moment before relaxing. He opened his mouth to speak, but started coughing before he got more than a word or two out. Izuku reached forward to help, but stopped when Link held up a hand. He stepped back and waited.

After several moments, the coughing subsided, and Link tried again, his voice creaking from unuse. "I'm afraid that I have no more idea than you do, Midoriya." He coughed again. "Would you mind moving? I feel... compelled, almost, to reach that terminal."

"Uh, s-sure," Izuku said, stepping aside. He watched as Link stepped up to the pedestal with the tablet in it and reach out a hand. The pedestal lit up, blue dots connected by blue lines of light. The center portion of the pedestal rose out of the base and spun around, extending the tablet. Izuku stared curiously; the tablet had also lit up, with several pulsing orange lines converging on the central eye, whose iris had lit up a steady blue, like the rest of the pedestal.

Both Izuku and Link jumped as the woman's voice spoke again.

"_This is a __Sheikah Slate__. Take it. It will help guide you after your long slumber."_

The two stared at the Slate for a moment. "I guess I just... take it, then?" Link reached out and hesitantly plucked the tablet from its resting place. As he held it up, the center of the tablet lit up, revealing a screen emblazoned with the same eye. "Strange," he murmured. "I've never seen anything like this before, and yet there is something oddly familiar about it."

Izuku desperately wanted to see what else it could do, but before he could ask, he heard a quiet _snik_ as the pedestal rotated back into its original position. There was a soft rumble, and the door slid up into the ceiling, revealing a hallway and some crates on the other side. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, so _now_ it opens."

Link was looking through the opening, a look of open curiosity on his face as he explored the new room. Izuku followed him, figuring that anywhere was better than being trapped in that room for any longer.

The second room was a bit longer than the previous room had been, and was designed in much the same way. The doorway they had just walked through opened onto a platform that contained several crates. A ramp connected the platform with the floor below. Once again, the most interesting part of the room was the door on the other side—larger than the one they had just gone through—and the pedestal beside it.

Izuku went to examine the pedestal. Unlike the last one, it didn't appear to have any sort of slot for the Sheikah Slate, though it did have similar orange lines surrounding another the familiar blue eye. He ran his hand along the surface and frowned. It felt like a screen. He poked around the sides of the terminal, but couldn't find any way to interact with the screen. Maybe the Slate had an app for that.

_Thump_.

Izuku jumped at the sudden sound and looked for its source. Behind him, Link was crouched next to a chest and shaking his hand, cursing. The chest beside him sprung open, as if in open mockery of his pain. "Are you—

"Don't worry about it." Link grimaced and extracted an old pair of pants and shoes from the chest with his other hand, which he immediately put on. Izuku noticed another chest in the other corner and pointed it out to the slumberer, who found a shirt to wear as well.

Once Link was fully clothed—Izuku stifled a laugh as he realized that everything was a little short for the man—he joined the hero-in-training at the terminal. As both were staring at the terminal, the woman's voice chimed in again.

"_Hold the __Sheikah Slate_ _up to the pedestal. That will show you the way."_

"You know, I feel like I should know that voice," Link commented as he did as the voice instructed. When the two connected, all the eye pulsed a brighter blue, and the orange lights faded and were replaced with blue ones. A quite, mechanized voice then spoke.

"Authorizing... Sheikah Slate confirmed."

The chamber shook, and another eye illuminated in the center of the door, which slid apart into the walls and ceiling. Beams of sunlight flickered in and out as the door opened until the entire room was fully illuminated. Izuku squinted in the sudden light; he hadn't realized just how dimly lit the interior had been. Beside him, Link was similarly blinking and squinting, trying to see into the light.

"_Link... You are the light—our light—that must shine upon Hyrule once again. Now, go..._"

Hyrule? Where was that? It wasn't in Japan, as far as Izuku was aware. Maybe it was on the mainland, or an island near Japan.

"It's beautiful," Link murmured, moving into the sunlit corridor. Izuku followed him, noting that the corridor, while made of the same too-smooth stone, was more worn than the previous rooms. Dirt and dust has piled up in the corners and along the walls, and the stairs, while still smooth, were chipped on along the edges. More strangely, about halfway up the stairwell, the stairs just disappeared. Link splashed his way through a large puddle that filled the corridor up until it ended abruptly in a small ledge, which Izuku could only assume was the top of the old stairwell. He whistled quietly to himself as he pulled himself up the ledge; exposure to the elements had not been kind to this place.

Izuku stepped out of the cave, and his first impression was just how _green_ everything was. The cave entrance was surrounded was surrounded by trees and tall grass. Birds were chirping quietly above him. The contrast between the clearly very high-tech rooms in the cave and here was pretty stark.

"This place is gorgeous," Izuku murmured, looking around before focusing on something off in the distance. His eyes widened. "Wait, is that an active volcano?!"

"I don't think it's active," Link replied. Izuku turned to face him and discovered that link was looking out over a ledge. The man gestured away from where he was standing. "Or maybe not yet. I don't think that's the biggest problem at the moment.

"What do you mean, 'not the biggest problem?'" Izuku demanded, moving to see what the blond was talking about. When he at last saw over the ridge, he stopped short, eyes going wider.

A magnificent vista of rolling hills and small forests spread out beneath him. Occasional plateaus broke up the landscape, and mountains could be seen in the distance, the largest of which surrounded the volcano Izuku had noticed earlier.

All that, he took in at a moment's glance, but nothing really held his attention for long. No, what he focused on was the amount of ruins he could see. Massive crumbling walls jutted out of the land testifying, and off in the distance, Izuku could see what looked like the silhouette of a castle, though not much more than that.

He gulped. He _definitely_ wasn't in Japan anymore.

"Link," he started, trying to keep his voice from trembling. "Where exactly i-is Hyrule?"

The man was silent for a moment. Izuku looked over and saw Link frowning. "Like I said earlier, I don't know. I don't remember much, except my name."

So he was trapped in a foreign land with an amnesiac. Wonderful.

Link looked over his shoulder at Izuku and stiffened. "There are others up here with us."

"What?"

"Turn around slowly. There are two men down the path from us."

Path? Izuku did as instructed and gawked. A wide path he hadn't noticed earlier wound down the side of the ledge they were on and ran in front of a towering structure that looked like it had been a temple at one point. There were smaller ruins in front of it; possibly the homes of those who had lived here before?

Link nudged him and gestured again. A little ways down the path, two men were sitting by a fire they had built under an overhang. The smaller of the two was staring into the fire, while the larger was watching them. When he saw that he'd been seen, the large man waved the two of them over, and turned back to the fire.

Izuku squinted, trying to get a better look at the smaller of the two, when the man looked up, his sunken eyes wide. Izuke yelped and scrambled down the path toward the man, ignoring Link's surprised calls to come back.

"All Might!" he yelled, tears streaming down his face as he collided with his mentor. "What are you doing here? I-I didn't th-think I-I would s-see you again!"

"Speak for yourself! Where did you come from, Young Midoriya?" All Might responded, holding the boy tightly. "And who are you, young man?" he said, addressing Link, who had cautiously followed.

"I'm Link," he said simply. "You two know each other then?"

Izuku separated himself from his hero and attempted unsuccessfully to wipe the tears from his eyes. "He's my teacher and mentor. He's been helping me get stronger so I can become a hero."

"Yes, he has mentioned a great deal about you, Young Midoriya."

Izuku turned to face the last person, an old man who was a little on the larger side. He was staring into the fire, clutching a crutch-like cane with a lantern hanging from the handle. His face was hooded, hiding all but is white beard. The man looked up and smiled, his eyes twinkling in the depths of the hood. "Still, it is a bit strange to see another soul in these parts, let alone three."

Link crouched and stared across the fire at the old man. "Who are you?

"Me?" The man asked, placing his hand on his chest. "I'll spare you my life story. I'm just an old fool who has lived here, alone, for quite some time now." He shifted around and looked at the three of them. "So, what brings several bright-eyed young men to a place like this?"

Izuku scratched his head. "That's just it, we're not entirely sure. Where are we, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Answering a question with a question," the man mused. "That is fair enough. As I cannot imagine our meeting to be a coincidence... I shall tell you. This is the Great Plateau. According to legend, this is the birthplace of the entire kingdom of Hyrule."

The man climbed to his feet and pointed to the old temple with his cane. "That temple there... Long ago, it was the site of many sacred ceremonies. Ever since the decline of the kingdom a hundred years ago, it has sat abandoned, in a state of decay." He turned back to face the three. "Yet another forgotten entity. A mere ghost of its former self..." He trailed off, staring back into the fire.

Izuku waited for a moment. "Um, is there anything else to you can tell us?" _That didn't really answer our question..._

The old man didn't respond. Thinking maybe he hadn't heard, Izuku repeated his question. Still no response.

All Might put his hand on Izuku's shoulder. "I'll talk with him, see what else I can learn. Why don't you two go check out that temple? Maybe there's something there we can use."

Link nodded. "I was thinking the same thing."

Izuku looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment before nodding as well. "A-all right, we can do that. We'll meet you back here, okay?"

"That should work. I'll come down to you if I learn anything important."

With that, he sat down again next to the old man and started talking about some of his Hero days. Link looked mildly curious, but didn't stay to listen. He walked down the hill toward the temple, his head high. Izuku followed, relieved that whatever happened, he at least had All Might. With the Number One Hero there to help, everything would be okay.


	2. Chapter 2: The Temple of Time

"Good luck, young heroes." All Might watched the two young men walk away and smiled. He had chosen his champion well. Though how Young Midoriya had gotten to Hyrule was another question. He would have to ask him when they returned from the temple.

In the meantime, he had a task to accomplish. He turned back to face the old traveler, whose stern gaze hadn't left the glowing flames. "Now, friend," All Might started, changing into his Hero form. "**I would like you to explain to me what you didn't tell those two young men."**

* * *

"What is _that_?" Izuku breathed, crouching down in some grass. He and Link hadn't wandered too far down the old, worn path—Izuku was surprised at just how much of the stonework was still intact—when they had spotted something red moving off to their left. Link had motioned for him to follow quietly before the two had snuck up for a closer look.

The creature could only be described as a little red goblin. It had a spike on its head and large, bat-like ears. At the moment, it was snuffling around near the base of a tree, poking the trunk with a branch it had picked up from somewhere. Honestly, if it wasn't for the pig snout, Izuku thought it could have been kind of cute.

"It's a bokoblin," Link said quietly, eyes never leaving the creature. "They're monsters. They've attacked Hylian villages and travelers for years." He paused. "I'm... not sure how I know that."

Okay, so not cute. "We can't leave it here; All Might and that older gentleman don't know it's here. It might attack them if they wander down."

The blond studied the monster for a few more moments before speaking. "We'll have to kill it."

"K-kill it?!" Izuku exclaimed. He immediately clapped his hands over his mouth, but the damage had been done. The bokoblin whirled around and spotted the two crouching in the grass. It squealed and brandished its improvised club angrily.

Link muttered something under his breath. "All right, stealth isn't an option anymore. Do you have any weapons?"

"No! Why would I have weapons? I'm a hero-in-training!"

"Even trainees have weapons! All right, we'll have to fall back and find something," Link said grimly, slowly backing away. "I can't fight it empty-handed. Even a branch is better than my fists."

Fists! Izuku didn't wait for the creature to get closer; he lunged sideways, placing himself in between Link and the bokoblin. It halted its advance and stared at him curiously for a moment, blue eyes glittering menacingly. Izuku was sure it was looking to see if he was armed. He was also sure that it wasn't scared when it screeched and jumped at him, swinging its makeshift at his head.

_It's okay. I can do this. It's just like in training!_ He activated his Full Cowling and easily dodged the bokoblin's attack. It looked shocked that such small prey had avoided it so easily. It turned to strike again, but this time, Izuku was waiting for it. As it swung its branch, he ducked around it and threw a fist into the creature's stomach

He was rewarded with the creature's sharp exhale as he drove all of the air out of its lungs. He didn't wait for it to recover; he grabbed its arm with his free hand and, using both arms to lift the bokoblin, spun and threw it as far as 5% of One For All would allow him. The monster flew several meters before crashing into a large tree, where it slumped to the ground and didn't move.

He breathed a sigh of relief and sank back down to the ground. "That went far better than I expected." He glanced behind him. "See Link, you don't need we—Uh, are you okay?"

"Farore's Breath!" Link exclaimed, wide-eyed. "How did you do that? What were those lights?"

Lights? Oh, he meant Full Cowling. "That was just my Quirk. It enhances my physical traits."

Link watched him warily for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds incredibly useful. At the very least, we may not need to worry about finding a weapon for a little while."

"What do you mean?"

In response, he gestured toward the tree the bokoblin had crashed into. Izuku sighed and moved to investigate; Link could stand to be a bit more verbal at times. When he got to the tree, he frowned. The bokoblin was gone. Did it run off? He looked around, but couldn't see any sign of where it had gone. "Hey Link, did you see where the bokoblin went?"

"It didn't go anywhere."

"What do you mean it didn't go anywhere..." Izuku's voice trailed off as he spotted something in the grass. He rooted around for a moment before coming up with a couple of strange, bone-like objects. They looked terribly, horribly familiar.

"Odd, isn't it?"

Izuku looked up to see Link watching him. There was a look in the man's eyes that he couldn't quite identify. The blond nodded at the items in his hands. "When monsters die, their essence disperses. Sometimes, they'll leave horns or claws—something bone-like, usually. Looks like you've got a couple of fangs there."

Izuku shuddered and dropped the teeth, backing away from them. "No. No no nononono, this isn't right. I didn't hit it that hard. I couldn't have. I wasn't using full strength."

"Most common bokoblins aren't too hardy." He could feel Link's eyes on him as the blond asked, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?! Link, I-I'm training to be a hero! We're supposed to protect life, not—not take it. Even w-when I went all out against my opponents in the past, something in me w-w-was always careful not to cause t-too much damage. I-I didn't use much more force than I normally do."

Izuku stood by the tree, trying to steady his breath, for several long moments before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Link.

"I think I understand. First kills are always difficult." The slumberer paused, searching Izuku's face for a moment. "I... may not be the right person to talk to, as I don't remember much of my life. Let's finish looking around, and then you can talk with your mentor when we get back."

All Might! If anyone would know what to do, All Might would. He took a deep breath and steeled himself before nodding, though the tears didn't stop flowing. "Y-you're right."

Link watched for a moment longer before nodding. "Tell you what: I saw an axe back up the hill. Why don't I go grab it while you take a moment to collect yourself? That way, I can take point if there are any other monsters out here."

Izuku nodded again and sank down to the ground. "T-thanks, L-link. I'll w-wait here." He didn't watch as Link walked away and instead focused on his breathing. Logically, he knew, there were times when heroes had to take lives. Sometimes, it was just unavoidable. But it shouldn't have to be. He clutched his head in his hands as he felt the tears start to trickle down his face. He could still _feel_ the bokoblin's stomach giving way under his fist. It had crumpled, but not any more than when he had sparred against the others. All the therapy in the world wouldn't be able to help him to forget that feeling. He remembered what Thirteen had said back at the USJ: "_Don't forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers could be deadly—even if you're trying to do something virtuous, like rescue someone._" He hadn't really understood what she had meant until now.

He leaned his head back and scrubbed at his eyes. Hopefully, All Might would have some ideas.

A few minutes later, Izuku spotted Link returning with a massive axe strapped to his back and scrubbed at his eyes again. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to will himself to be calm. He could deal with this later. For now, he needed to focus.

Link waved at Izuku when he saw that he'd been noticed. "I've got the axe. You ready? Good, let's go check this temple out."

Izuku got up, and together, the two cut down across the hill path toward the nearest portion of the ruins. The structure appeared to have been a small house of some kind, possibly for monks or temple attendants. All that was left were the lower walls of the structure; everything else appeared to have toppled or eroded away.

The two entered through the rear of the structure. The ruined building didn't hold much; just a few old barrels. Through the front door of the ruined building, Izuku spotted another bokoblin pacing along what looked like a paved walkway. It was facing away from them, much to Izuku's relief. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to fight this one.

Link had seen it too. "I know you're probably still not on board with killing these things, but it's got to be done. If we don't, the old man might be in trouble." He put his hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Like I said earlier, I'll take this one and any others. All you need to do is watch my back, okay?"

Izuku gulped and nodded. He watched as Link crept up the creature, one hand on the haft of the axe. The bokoblin, despite having massive ears, didn't appear to hear him; it was examining its club, which Izuku noted was a step above the tree branch the one he had... _taken care of..._ had been using.

After a few tense moments, Link was in position. He had managed—how, Izuku didn't understand—to sneak up right behind the monster without gaining its attention. In a single movement, he unslung the axe and swung it at the creature, letting the momentum from the swing carry the axe around for a second blow. Izuku shuddered as the newly-freed head rolled away from its former body before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Link picked up the horn that had remained behind and pocketed it before gesturing for Izuku to follow him. "Looks like there's one more up there," he said, pointing.

Izuku looked. A stairway made out of the same worn stone rose in front of him, leading up to another ruined building—which was where Link was pointing—and walkway leading up to the temple proper. Izuku couldn't see the bokoblin that Link had spotted, but he trusted the man. "All right. Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, it's fine. I'll come get you when it's over."

Link crept up the stairs and out of sight. A moment or two later, Izuku heard a high-pitched squeal he assumed had come from the bokoblin. Another few moments and Link reappeared at the top of the stairs, holding his axe and, oddly enough, a pair of pants. "It's all clear now. Let's go."

* * *

The rest of their journey up to the temple was much less eventful. While Izuku could see several more bokoblins off in the distance, they did not encounter any more. That left him much more time to wonder what on earth had happened here.

The old man had said that the temple had been abandoned for a hundred years. While there was some wear-and-tear on the stonework, that would not account for the state of ruin that the once-proud structure and its surroundings had fallen in to. There was a level of destruction present that he hadn't expected; old scorch marks, pillars and walls that had been knocked over, that sort of thing.

And then there were the machines. There had been one back by the first building they had entered, but Izuku had been more concerned with the little red monsters at the time and had barely paid it any attention. Now, as he and Link were climbing the final flight of stairs to the temple, there were a bunch that had captured his attention.

They looked like they had, at one point, been walkers of some kind. There were several of them in the hall below the main building and several more on the hillside, so clearly they had played a role here, but Izuku couldn't tell exactly _what_ that had been. All he knew was that, with their odd, bell-shaped body structures and spindly legs, Hatsume would love to get her hands on them. He might have to see if he could bring some pieces back for her.

And then there was the temple itself. Izuku couldn't believe it was still standing, seeing as how most of the left wall had been knocked over. Even still, the structure was beautiful. The ceiling—still mostly intact, amazingly—soared far over his head. The old tile floors had long since given way to grass and weeds, but there were still bits and pieces of old mosaics visible through the turf. At the end of the room there was a massive statue of a winged woman that looked like she was presiding over nature's reclaimed cathedral. The whole place exuded an air of quiet reverence, as if it defied any attempts to make noise or disrupt it.

Link whistled quietly. "There's something you don't see every day." He looked around briefly before turning to Izuku. "Do we just want to split up again? It's not like there's much here to find."

Izuku thought for a moment before nodding. "I'll check around here and work toward the back."

"Okay. Let's see if we can figure out why that old man pointed out the temple, of all places."

Link left to investigate the rear of the cathedral, leaving Izuku standing next to the entrance. He started poking around, but didn't really find anything. At least, not until he reached the one remaining tower.

While there were no stairs, he did find a large chest nestled in among some rubble. "I wonder what's in here," he muttered, idly tugging on the lid. Much to his surprise, the chest opened with little effort.

Lodged inside was a wooden short bow with steel inlays around the grip, resting in a quiver of the same design. He picked them up and frowned. The bow looked like it had been newly made. With the state the temple was in, he sorely doubted that. Still, they had a bow now! Izuku looked around, searching for any arrows. While he didn't see any, he did spot a couple of small pots sitting at the entrance to the tower. He found several worn arrows nestled inside. Apparently, chests were better protection from the elements than simple pottery.

Excited from his find, Izuku went to tell Link, and quickly located him standing toward the rear of the hall. The man was standing in front of a small block with a slot in the top. "Something important used to be here," he said, not looking up as Izuku approached. "For the life of me though, I can't figure out what."

Izuku looked at the block, but couldn't see anything special about it. "Well, maybe you'll remember what it was later. In the meantime, I found something."

That got Link's attention. "Oh? What'd you find."

"This." Izuku held out the bow.

Link picked it up and turned it around. He plucked the string and nodded. "This'll do. Where'd you find it?"

Izuku pointed. "In a chest over in that tower."

Link raised an eyebrow and gave the bow back. "That's... a little weird. Well, you found this, so it's yours to use. We might need it later, so take care of it."

Izuku nodded and stowed it back in its quiver. He didn't know how to use a bow, really, and One For All might make it difficult to use without snapping it. Still, it wouldn't hurt to learn. If there were as many bokoblins as he thought there might be, it might be nice to have something that one of them could use to keep the little monsters at a distance.

Link took one last glance at the block before turning. "I don't think there's anything else here. Let's get back to the others."

* * *

The journey back to the cliffside camp was uneventful. They found the old man and All Might by the fire where they had left them. All Might was roasting meat over the flames while his companion watched and occasionally made suggestions. All Might looked up as they approached and smiled. "Welcome back, Young Heroes! Come take a seat; food's just about ready."

Izuku sat next to his mentor and sighed. It was good to be back with a familiar face. He glanced over at Link, who nodded at him before very pointedly walking a small distance away. Izuku took a deep breath. He might as well ask now. "Hey, All Might? Have you ever had—have you ever killed anyone as a hero?"

All Might stopped turning the spit. "That's a heavy question, Young Midoriya. What's got that on your mind?"

Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes again. All Might took a look at his face before turning to his companion. "Could you watch this for a minute?"

The old man nodded and took over the spit. All Might took Izuku off to the side. "Why don't you tell me what this is about?"

So he did. For the next several minutes, Izuku relayed the encounters with the bokoblins. He stammered through how it had felt to crush the creature, his frustration with Link at not taking him seriously at first, and the conflicted feelings he'd had as they explored the temple. All Might, for his part, didn't stir the entire time; he just watched Izuku through sunken eyes. Once Izuku was finished, he remained quiet for a few more moments before speaking.

"I'm sorry you had to face such a dilemma so young. You're right in your observation that sometimes heroes have to kill. You may recall that I thought I had killed All For One in our encounter five years ago." He paused, thinking, before continuing. "In our world—and yes, I believe that we are no longer on Earth—heroes try to avoid taking lives whenever they can. Life is sacred and to be protected and nourished, no matter how corrupt that life might be.

"That may not be the case here. I've spoken with our enigmatic guide, and he's made it clear to me that the monsters you encountered are not exactly living. They're flesh and bone animated by... dark magic." All Might paused. "I'm still not sure how that works. The point is, I don't think you have much to worry about with them."

Izuku sniffed and wiped away his tears. "R-really?"

His mentor placed a hand on his shoulder. "Really. You're a great hero, Young Midoriya, even though you're still in training. Understanding the value of life is the greatest strength a hero can have." He smiled at Izuku, who slowly smiled back. "You'll be all right. Now, I have a question for you."

Izuku's smile drooped a little as he stared at the hero in confusion. "You do? W-what is it?"

All Might's smile disappeared as he bulked up into his Hero form. "**Tell me, Young Midoriya, how did you come to be here?"**

Izuku gulped. "W-well, some of the others and I decided that we wanted to try to help rescue Kacchan. We were being careful," he added, as he saw All Might grow more stern-looking. "Kirishima, Todoroki, Ashido, and I were angry that we had failed and wanted to make things right. Iida and Yaoyorozu came along specifically to make sure that we didn't get in trouble and stayed out of combat. We had found the Nomu plant and were about to go back when the heroes showed up to contain the Nomu. We didn't think there was anything else left to do. And then... _he_ attacked."

Izuku shuddered, no longer looking at All Might. "All For One. He wiped out the heroes almost instantly. We heard him talking, and then there was this splashing sound, and then Kacchan and the League of Villains were there, All For One talked with Shigaraki... and then you were there, and then the air warped, and I saw a light, and then I woke up in that cave over there, and—"

"**Slow down there, young man. You're rambling again,"** All Might said, cutting Izuku off. "**So let me get this straight. You had come to help with the intention of not fighting a criminal organization, correct?"**

Izuku nodded, and then winced as All Might bopped him on the head. "**That was for being foolish. You were ill-equipped for such an operation. But—"** Izuku looked up at All Might and saw that the pro was smiling at him again. "—**your intentions were good. You have a good heart, and I've no doubt that you and your friends would have pulled it off if All For One hadn't done whatever he had done that sent us here.**

"**Your story explains a few things, but I still have one very important question."** All Might shifted from foot to foot, his face suddenly lined with concern. "**You said that there were five others who went with you to rescue Young Bakugo. Where are they now?"**

* * *

And there's chapter 2! I'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter, and hope this one's up to snuff. Next chapter we're going to visit a one or two of the other 1-A kids, so get ready. :D

Also, shout out to my fellow editors who ran over this for me and helped fix some issues.

I've been editing fanfiction for a while over on Epsilon110's Total Command Discord server, and finally decided to give writing fanfiction a go myself. Wanted to keep it mostly true to the plot of BotW while exploring what it would mean to have Quirks in Hyrule and working on my own writing. I've got some fun ideas of where to go with this, so we'll see how it turns out.

If you want in on the server, here's a link: /XCk97mk We're friendly, chaotic, and happy to greet new people.


	3. Chapter 3: Chain Reaction

"Why did I think that going the long way around would be a good idea?" Mina whined quietly as she trudged down the mountain. She had woken up that morning on top of said mountain next to a very cute lake with no one else around her. The last thing she remembered was All Might and the Big Bad starting to fight each other. That was it.

It had taken her a little while to calm down—waking up somewhere foreign with no idea how she got there freaked her out more than she would have admitted to anyone else—but eventually she had reached a point where she felt like she could function. A brief investigation of her surroundings had told her exactly nothing, or basically nothing. She was on top of a mountain next to the ocean, which stretched for miles farther than she could see. Mina hadn't done well with geography in school, but even still, she didn't think any of the landscape was from Japan.

In short, the girl had no idea where she was. She had, however, spotted a small village at the base of the mountain and figured that they might be able to answer that question for her. With that thought in mind, she had set out along what looked like the path down.

That had been hours ago. Now it was close to midday—she didn't know exactly when, since her phone was dead—and she was starving. She whined again as her stomach gurgled. Loudly. "Man, this sucks." The wind gusted as she rounded another corner in the neverending trail. She winced as the air whipped at her face and kept walking, but pulled up short. What was that smell? She sniffed, trying to place it. It smelled a lot like... something burning?

She followed the scent down the path and around another corner, where she stopped. Ahead of her, she spotted a small plume of smoke drifting lazily into the sky. She watched it for a moment before grinning. It wasn't big enough to be anything but a campfire.

Mina started jogging down the rest of the path, which she realized she had just about reached the bottom of. Finally. It didn't take long for her to reach the bottom and start running across the beach towards the campfire. She slowed down pretty quickly when she realized that there wasn't anybody actually at the fire.

You can't just leave a fire unattended! Who started this thing? She looked around, hoping to spot someone. Instead, all she saw was meters of beautiful beach and warm-looking ocean waves. Occasional palm trees waved in the breeze. Cliffs surrounded the cove on almost all sides, ending just short of the waterline. A small canyon opened on the northern side of the cliff face, and Mina assumed that that was where the path she had been following went. She wasn't worried about that at the moment, though. For now, she had found paradise.

Or had almost found it. The beauty of her surroundings was kind of ruined by the ugly towers out in the water. She wasn't quite sure how they hadn't been knocked over yet, as they looked super rickety, especially with the massive skull-looking things on top. She squinted, trying to get a better look at the structures. It looked like someone was moving up there, but she could quite tell at this distance.

Her stomach gurgled loudly, distracting her. Right, I need to find some food. She looked around the campfire, hoping to find something to eat before she put the fire out.

Her efforts were quickly rewarded. Off to one side of the campfire behind several large crates she found a basket full of fruit. Apples, bananas, and even melons—Mina's mouth watered. She didn't waste any time in digging in, making short work of several of the bananas and apples before finally deciding that she'd had enough.

Now that she'd solved the immediate issue of hunger, Mina decided to take another look at those weird towers. She jogged her way further out along the beach before trying to get another look at whatever she'd seen. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and looked again. There were a bunch of little goblin things walking around up there! She couldn't see them super well, but they didn't look too friendly.

Okay, so maybe don't go over there. Mina turned and jogged back to the fire and took stock of her options. I could just chill here until a boat from that village came by, though with those gross goblins out there, I don't think anything would get by. I've got enough food for now, and I think I might be able to make that village I saw by dark. She glanced out at the water again. Oh, I wish there was time for a swim. That water looks great! Figures the one time I make it to the beach I can't enjoy it. She sighed and refocused on a pole sticking out of the sand near the fire. I wonder what that even is?

The girl thoughtfully tugged at the pole and stumbled backwards when it slid out of the sand. When she regained her balance, she realized that it wasn't a pole at all, but rather the handle of a barbed spear. "Oh wow! This is so cool!" Mina gave it a few test jabs and grinned. Now she had her very own spear, and if it was anything like the staff she'd used for stave dancing, she shouldn't have any issues using it—either for a more exotic dance routine or to defend herself, if needed. It could stand to be a bit more pink, though.

Armed and refreshed, Mina stuffed some of the remaining fruit into her pockets and returned to the path she had been following and continued along it, using her new spear as an impromptu staff. Gradually, the ground turned from packed sand to packed dirt and stone as it ran into the canyon leading away from the beach. After traveling for thirty or so minutes in the canyon, the path forked, running off to the east and the west. Mina stood at the crossroads and frowned, looking back and forth between the two. Eventually, she started down the east-bound road, as she vaguely remembered seeing the sun rising over the village from that direction.

"I'm so ready to be done with this," Mina grumbled several hours later. Her spear was now laying across her shoulders, her arms hanging lazily over it as she walked. The sun had gotten much lower over the course of her journey and the canyon she was walking down had been plunged into twilight. She felt like she was pretty close to her destination, but she had no way of knowing for sure, other than using the mountain she had woken up on to mark her progress.

As she trudged along—trudging is sooo not pretty—the breeze shifted and started blowing toward her. With it came a sound. Mina paused and listened, trying to catch whatever that had been. The sound came again, and she frowned. It sounded like... screaming?

With that realization, her training kicked in, and she started running down the canyon, her fatigue forgotten. She spun the spear off her shoulders and into a more ready position. She didn't really know how to use it, but it couldn't be that hard, right? Just stab? Focus, Mina! You don't have time to ask questions.

Mina rounded a corner in the canyon and could suddenly see the source of the screams. Ahead of her and off of the path were the remains of a wagon of some kind. One of the gross blue goblin creatures was chasing someone around it and taking occasional swipes with its sword. Mina didn't hesitate; she ran toward the creature, yelling to get its attention. It stopped and looked toward the charging pink girl, then screeched before charging toward her. Mina waited until it was only a couple of meters away from her before using the spear to vault over it. As she passed, she shot a bit of acid from her free hand at the creature's sword. She landed and pivoted to face the creature to survey the damage, bringing the spear back up just in case.

The goblin's sword was pockmarked and smoking, but that didn't seem to deter it; if anything, it was even more angry. It screeched again—which sounded a bit like a pig's squeal, Mina realized—and swung at her. Instead of trying to block the sword, Mina twisted around the weapon, falling into one of the stave dance routines she'd tried out. As she gracefully slid past the monster, she spun the spear around her neck and across her arm before arcing the butt end of the weapon into its creature winced and staggered backward, but quickly recovered and swung at her again, this time leaping in the air to try and smash her. Mina tried to back up, but tripped over something and fell down, spear raising automatically as she fell. She felt an impact shake the spear before it was pulled from her grasp. She looked around frantically for it and gasped. Apparently, the impact she had felt was the goblin crashing into the point. The creature in question had staggered to its feet once more and, using both hands, managed to pry itself off of the end of the spear before tossing it aside and picking up its sword once more.

Mina's eyes went wide as she stared up at the hole in the chest of the menacing creature bearing down on her. What the hell is this thing? She threw both hands forward and used them to funnel acid at the creature, creating a hose-like jet. The liquid splashed over the monster, and its squeels became much more pained. It dropped the sword and staggered backward before disappearing in a poof of smoke, leaving Mina by herself on the stretch of path.

She just watched the spot where the creature had been for a moment, breathing heavily, before slowly climbing to her feet. Where did it go? Did it—did it die? Where did the smoke come from? The creature's body wasn't where it had been standing; instead, several objects that looked like teeth were laying on the ground next to the corroded sword.

"Hey, you! Pink lady!"

Mina jumped and raised her hands defensively as she turned toward the voice. The man the little demon had been chasing had come out from behind the ruined wagon and was walking up to her. He looked like a stereotype for a surfboard commercial—dark skin, shark tooth necklace, clothes that were fashionably too small, the works. Mina took all this in as the weird swimsuit model wannabe started talking again.

"Whoa, thanks for the save. I was NOT looking forward to the rest of my life in that thing's stomach. Uh, you're not a monster, are you? I've never seen anyone with pink skin before, or horns. I'd heard that Gorons have horns, but I've never met one before, so I wouldn't know."

I thought only Izuku spouted words like that. Instead of saying that, Mina just shook her head. "No, I'm not a monster. My Quirk is that I can shoot acid from my skin; my skin's pink because it had to develop a resistance to that. As for the horns..." she shrugged. "I don't know why I have 'em, but they complete the look."

The guy's eyes widened. "Whoa, that's pretty gnarly. Well, I don't have a fancy reward for you, but I do have this, if you want it." As he spoke, surfer bro reached into a pouch Mina hadn't noticed earlier and extracted a small bundle of something that he then extended toward her. Mina slowly took the bundle and unwrapped it—and immediately started salivating.

"Wow, rice balls! Thanks a lot, guy!" Mina exclaimed. She recovered the snack and looked up. "I'm Ashido Mina. What's your name? And how did you get stuck with that thing chasing you?"

Surfer bro rubbed the back of his head. "The name's Regan. I ran away from Lurelin Village just up the road. The whole place stinks of cut-up bait and fish guts, and almost everyone there works with fish somehow. Well, not me! I couldn't take it anymore, so I left. I'm gonna make my living as a scavenger instead, fishing around Hyrule's rubble for neat stuff!" He struck what he must a have thought was a heroic pose before wilting slightly. "I... didn't consider all the monsters, though."

Hyrule? Mina wondered. I wonder if that's an old ruin around here. "Well, I was just heading to... Lurelin... myself, so I guess I'll see you around if you stop by."

"Hey, I might just have to, Ashido." Regan smiled and started walking up the path Mina had come down. "You take care now. Lurelin's just up ahead around the bend. Thanks again for the save!"

Mina waved goodbye to her weird new friend and continued on her way. She popped a rice ball into her mouth as she walked and smiled. Odd though Regan may be, he did have good taste in snacks.

A few minutes later, she rounded the bend in the path that Regan had mentioned and sighed in relief. Below her, Lurelin spread out in front of the beautiful ocean, comprised mainly of roughly two dozen little huts of palm wood and leaves. Little tiki statues—They're called totems, right?—were scattered throughout the village. As she walked through the front gate—a larger pair of totems—she noticed people lighting lanterns and torches. One of them, a woman with gorgeous dark skin, noticed her. She stepped away from the torch she had been working on and approached Mina. "Welcome to Lurelin, traveler."

The woman smiled at Mina, who felt like she had almost melted in relief. "It looks like you've been traveling for a while. Please, join us. We were just about to eat."

Mina liked the woman instantly. "Thank you so much, ma'am!"

"Please, call me Erim. If you'll follow me, we'll get you taken care of."

Mina smiled, but the corners of her mouth slowly drooped as her most pressing question came back to her. "Actually, I do have a question for you, Erim. I'm trying to find some of my friends, but we were separated." She felt tears of frustration at the corners of her eyes as the burdens and emotions of the last couple of days came crashing back down on her. "This area is all unfamiliar to me, so I can't find them. Could you tell me where I am?"

Mina couldn't see Erim through her tears, but the woman's response was clear enough as she embraced Mina. The girl stiffened momentarily at the unexpected touch, but relaxed as Erim started speaking.

"There, there, dear. We'll get some people out looking for your friends. For now, it might be best if we got some food in you and let you rest. I'll try and answer whatever questions I can. Dinner first though, okay?"

Mina sniffled and nodded. She let Erim guide her deeper into the village while she tried to get a hold of her emotions. It had been a long day.

* * *

Izuku rolled over and groaned. Why am I so sore? Probably because his bed was so hard. But he wasn't in the hospital anymore; they'd discharged him. With an effort, he managed to pry his eyes open—and shut them again quickly as reality crashed in.

That's right, I'm in Hyrule. The events of the past twenty-four hours flashed through his mind, and he curled up under the blanket the old man had provided and cried quietly. After a few minutes, his tears dried and he wiped his eyes before sitting up and looking around.

Sunlight streamed down across the mountainside. Izuku guessed it was right around seven or eight in the morning. All Might and their enigmatic guide—or host or whatever he was supposed to be—were still staring at the fire, about where he had left them last night. The two had talked for much of the night, long after Izuku had fallen asleep. Whatever, they had talked about, they had made sure that he and Link were not a part of the discussion.

Speaking of Link... Izuku frowned and looked around, but couldn't see the former sleeper anywhere.

"He went out to get some food for us."

Izuku jumped and turned. The old man was smiling in his direction. "Don't worry, he shouldn't be gone for too long."

And he wasn't. Within minutes of Izuku waking up, Link had returned with several fish slung over his shoulder. He waved at Izuku as he approached. "Glad to see you're awake. You wanna help me clean these so we can eat?"

Izuku eyed the fish dubiously. "Um, sure. You'll have to show me how to do it, though; I've never done anything like that."

Link nodded and set the fish down on a stone slab the group had appropriated the night before as a makeshift table. When Izuku joined him, he just looked. The fish were much bigger than he had originally thought, and would easily feed the four of them with some to spare. "That's a lot of fish."

"We'll need it," the warrior replied. "Travel food is always good, I think we'll be doing a fair bit over the next while." Link pulled out a knife he had borrowed from the old man. "Are you ready to learn?"

Izuku nodded, and over the course of the next hour learned more than he thought he ever would about cleaning, preparing, and fire-roasting fish. Link showed him how to clean the first fish and then watched as he cleaned the second on his own. Once Link nodded his satisfaction, he showed Izuku how to spit the fish and roast them over the fire, using some herbs he'd found nearby to season the fish some.

As Izuku watched the fish to make sure they didn't burn, he glanced over at Link. "Does this mean that your memories are coming back?"

Link frowned, a far-off look in his eyes. "No. I remember how to do things, like fighting and hunting, but I don't know how I know." His focus sharpened as he looked at Izuku. "What about you? Do you remember why or how you came to be here?"

Izuku shook his head. "Other than what I described last night, nothing."

"We'll figure it out." Link stabbed the fish experimentally with his knife before nodding. "That can be a question for later. Breakfast is ready."

After smelling the fish and herbs roasting for what felt like ages, Izuku was all too ready to eat. The two called the older pair over. Link looked at the old man, who chuckled. "Help yourselves."

Izuku needed no second bidding and bit into his fish. The savory flavor, while simple, was better than anything Izuku could remember in recent memory. Certainly, it was at least as good as some of the food they'd had at camp. He quickly ate the entire thing and was surprised at how full he was afterwards.

I understand that you two are headed out to do some more exploring today?" All Might asked as he nibbled at his fish.

Izuku nodded. "That's right. I saw some more of those bokoblins in the valley yesterday, and we wanted to see if there was anything over that way. What will you be doing, All Might?"

The number one hero shrugged. "Not sure. Old Rhoam and I thought that we might investigate the old temple now that you've cleared it out."

Link's ears—Wait, they're pointed? Is he an elf? Is that a thing here?—perked up, and he turned to face the old man. "Oh, your name's Rhoam?"

"Yes. Did I not mention that?"

Izuku shook his head.

"Oh, my apologies. Yes, I'm Rhoam." Rhoam studied the two. "Does that name mean something to you?"

"No, I've never heard that name before," Link said, while Izuku shook his head.

The old man muttered something to himself before standing. "Well, no matter. I believe you two have a long day ahead of you, as do Toshinori and I." He picked up his cane and gestured with it down the mountain.

Link watched the man for a moment before standing up and brushing himself off. "You're right. We'll meet you back here, then."

Izuku watched as Link picked up the axe he'd been using and the club he'd retrieved from one of the bokoblins before realizing that he needed to go as well. As he scrambled to his feet, Link held out the bow and quiver Izuku had found the day before. "Here. You might need this."

Izuku stared at the weapon for a moment before hesitantly taking it. "S-sure. D-don't you want it?"

Link shook his head. "Not at the moment. Until you're comfortable with monsters, I would prefer if we kept a safe distance between you and them."

"I-I'm okay with that." Izuku slung the quiver and bow over his shoulder and followed Link down the path. Before they had gone too far, he heard All Might calling from behind them. The two paused and waited for the skeletal man to catch up. "What is it, All Might?"

"Before you two leave, I have something I'd like to ask you two to do." All Might's face still held a hint of his familiar smile, though it didn't fully reach his eyes. "I've spoken with Rhoam, and there's far more going on here than we originally thought. I believe that we"—he gestured at Izuku and himself—"may have been brought here for a reason."

Izuku looked at All Might in concern. "Why do you say that?"

"I can't tell you that. Not right now." All Might held up a hand, cutting Izuku's question off, and the hero-in-training could see that Link looked just as confused. "There's a lot at stake, and certain conditions have to be met. For now, carry on with your adventure. If, while you're exploring, you should run into Rhoam—who usually roams all over the plateau, apparently—and he asks you to do something... odd, humor him."

Link stared at the pro, eyes narrowed. "That's not terribly specific. Can't you tell us anymore?"

"If All Might says he can't, then he can't," Izuku said defensively, defending his hero. "It can't be something bad or dangerous, though; otherwise, I think he'd tell us anyway."

All Might smiled. "I appreciate your faith in me, Young Midoriya. And you're right; I don't think you'll be in any more danger than what you faced yesterday." His smile twisted downward. "Although, that was still fairly dangerous. Still, you're both young and strong; you should be fine."

Link stared at All Might through thinned eyes for a moment longer before nodding. "All right, we'll do it that way. You two be careful; we cleared out the temple yesterday, but that doesn't mean nothing's gone back."

"We'll keep an eye out for trouble."

The pro turned and walked back up the hill path, leaving the pair of aspiring heroes to their own devices. Izuku watched him climb the worn steps for a moment before turning back to his companion. "W-well, let's go."

The two went down toward the temple. This time, they didn't cut across the hilltop next to the small pond, instead following the path down around the front of the complex to the fountain plaza. As they walked toward the empty fountain, Link held up his hand. "Wait, did you hear that?"

Izuku listened for a moment, but didn't hear anything. He looked askance at Link, who appeared to be concentrating intensely. After a moment, Link pulled out his Sheikah Slate and looked at it for a moment before his eyes widened in surprise.

"What is it?" Izuku asked, concerned.

"I... I heard that voice again."

"What?"

Link nodded. "It told me to go to the point marked on the map in the Slate." He flipped the tablet, letting Izuku see the screen. While it mostly looked blank, there was a little arrow that seemed to indicate their position in the center of the 'map' and a blinking golden dot off to the right.

Izuku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That looks like it's in that area that we wanted to explore." He looked up. "You said that woman's voice told you about this?"

"She did," Link said. He paused for a moment before asking. "Didn't you hear her?"

"No."

Link looked back at the map and scratched his head. "That's... concerning." After a moment, he hooked the tablet back at his waist and started walking. "Well, she hasn't steered us wrong yet. Let's go; I think I see the spot that's being indicated."

Izuku followed him across the plateau to a set of stairs that led down to a small plain. Small grass-covered knolls rose up out of the ground, and a large mound of rocks rose up near what looked like the edge of the plateau. The morning sunlight glinted off of a pond to the left of the rocks, and on the other side of the pond, Izuku could see on odd structure that also reflected the sunlight. He squinted, trying to get a better look at it, but couldn't quite see at this distance.

Link walked a short distance farther down the stairs, but didn't make it far before two little blue somethings burst out of the ground. Izuku stared at the little things as they slowly started rolling towards him and Link. They just looked like little blue blobs with eyeballs. "Link, what are these?"

"Chuchus," the man replied. "The small ones aren't terribly dangerous; it's the big ones you want to watch out for. A child with a broom could fend off one of these."

Izuku watched the little blobs roll toward them. The way the rolled and jiggled reminded him a little bit of a football. Wait, a football... oh, I've got to try this.

"Link, I've got the one on the right." Without waiting for the blond to reply, Izuku ran towards his chosen target. As he did so, he channeled Full Cowling, trying to drive a little more of One For All into his legs, and, as he reached the chuchu, drove his foot into the gelatinous body.

The feeling was unlike anything Izuku had ever experienced; the closest comparison he had was with the sludge villain from earlier that year. The little slime momentarily molded around his foot before being launched through the air. Izuku grinned as he watched it soar out over the plain. The thing didn't go terribly far before it burst in a shower of blue goo, but it was satisfying nonetheless.

Wub.

Izuku turned around, still grinning, to see Link calmly scooping up some of the other chuchu's goop, which had formed into little balls. The blond looked up at him, face expressionless. "That was impressive." Link grinned suddenly and started laughing. "I've always wanted to do that. I never really got a chance to try, though."

Izuku laughed as well. "The chuchu reminded me of a football, and I wanted to see if it would fly as far as one."

Link cocked his head to the side. Oh, he probably doesn't know what a football is. Before Izuku could explain, Link shrugged and continued down the steps. The greenhead shook his head and followed, still grinning. He wasn't likely to forget that anytime soon.

His grin faded somewhat as he considered what he'd done. He had effectively just killed that chuchu, and yet he didn't feel nearly as bad about it as he had about the bokoblin. If he was being honest with himself, he kind of wanted to do it again. Maybe it's because it's not humanoid? Link did say that most of the non-animals were monsters, and I think that applies to chuchus.

Izuku was still thinking when something touched his shoulder. He jumped and whirled, or tried to; Link was holding on to his shoulder, preventing him from spinning.

"Are you all right? You were muttering something about the chuchus."

"I'm fine for now," Izuku replied. "Where are we supposed to go from here?"

Link pulled out the tablet and studied it for a moment before pointing at the mound of rocks—and the three bokoblins in front of it. "We'll probably want to sneak up on these, as we're outnumbered.

The hero-in-training gulped and nodded. "Lead the way." The two of them crept around the rearmost of the three, who was standing guard in front of the pile of boulders and, Izuku noticed, was much better equipped, armed with a small sword and a wooden shield. Izuku could also see was hollow, and the inside appeared to be made from the same material as the cave where he had found Link. What's that doing here?

Finally, the two had positioned themselves between the odd half-cave and the monster. Link placed a finger to his lips and unhooked his club with his other hand. Izuku held his breath as the blond crept up on the bokoblin. When he was directly behind the creature, Link raised his club and brought it crashing down.

Thunk!

The bokoblin went limp and fell to the ground. To Izuku's surprise, he could see the creature's body start to turn black before vanishing in a puff of purple smoke, leaving a couple of teeth—and the weapons. Link quickly dropped his club and picked up the sword and shield. He bounced it in his grip and gave it a few experimental swings before nodding and sliding it into the sheath that had dropped next to the teeth. The blond looked back at him. "Two to go. You might want to get your bow out."

Not really... He'd never fired a bow before, but had seen it done on cartoons and games. It couldn't be that hard, right? Izuku reluctantly got the bow out and nocked an arrow before following Link. The last two bokoblins were sitting at the top of a small rise that overlooked the rest of the valley. They were facing away from the two approaching heroes and looked to be talking quietly with each other.

Link gestured toward the one on the left and started creeping toward it. Okay, so he wants me to deal with the one on the right? Izuku suppressed a sigh and pulled the arrow back—or tried to. I didn't realize these things required so much strength to pull. After a couple of attempts, he managed to draw the arrow back as far as he could without breaking the bow. He looked down the shaft and took a breath before trying to steady his shaking hands. After a moment, he thought he had it, and released the arrow.

Wsssssst.

Thunk!

The bokoblin pitched forward and rolled down the small incline out of sight. Its companion screeched and snatched up the bow at its feet, looking around frantically for the source of the attack.

It didn't search long; Link lunged forward and buried the sword in the creature's chest before ripping it out and slicing into its stomach. As Izuku watched, he realized that where he would have expected to see blood, instead the bokoblin appeared to be 'bleeding' more of that dark smoke. Link's sword was likewise free of blood, instead trailing wisps of smoke behind it.

The second bokoblin fell to the ground and disappeared. Link rummaged around in the pile of loot before coming up with the creature's bow and a small bundle of arrows. When he rejoined Izuku, he held out a couple of arrows. "That was a fantastic shot. Thanks for taking care of the other one."

Izuku nodded and took the arrows, but didn't say anything. Now that they were finished, he felt a little sick. He knew he'd have to get used to the idea of killing these things at some point, but he didn't think it would come over night.

Link, perhaps sensing his unease, gestured toward the pile of rocks. "Come on, let's go see what's so special about those boulders."

The two of them returned to the half-cave, and once inside, they immediately saw what was so special. In the center of the small outcrop was a terminal like the one where Link had retrieved the Slate. Above the terminal hung a large rock , the upper half of which was covered in more of the odd yellow stonework.

As they approached it, the pedestal lit up orange. "Place the Sheikah Slate on the pedestal," a quiet voice said. Link looked at Izuku before pulling the Slate out doing as instructed. Once placed in the slot, the pedestal shifted and spun the Slate around until it was horizontal and facing screen-up. "Sheikah Tower activated. Please watch for falling rocks."

Falling rocks? Izuku barely had time to register this information before a blue light flashed above him, forming the same stylized eye they had seen elsewhere. Before he could do or say anything, the ground began to shake. It quivered softly at first, but the tremors became more and more violent. Izuku fought to keep his balance, but failed and ended up flat on his back. And then the rocks around him exploded.

* * *

Wow, I was not expecting such a positive response to this. I'm glad that you guys have been enjoying it, and I hope this chapter is up to par. Sorry this one took a little longer to get out; I made the great mistake of rereading part of a favorites series. Hope you all enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4: Reactions

Shoto cursed and ducked behind a pillar as another arrow whizzed by and crashed into the wall of the arena behind him. He hadn't expected the monster to be so strong. If he kept this up, Shoto was sure that he would be dead before too much longer. He needed to end this now.

Shoto spun out from behind the pillar and planted his right foot firmly into the ground, sending sheets of ice toward the creature. It reacted by breathing more fire at the onrushing ice—much as the boy had expected it would. Shoto smirked. _You'll have to do much better than that_. He spun around on his right foot and swept his right hand up over his head.

_SSSSSSTTTT!_

The torrent of ice was nothing like the previous attack and completely overwhelmed the creature. Shoto didn't let up and kept pouring ice from his right side. When he finally stopped a few seconds later, the results of his attack were immediately clear. His opponent—some sort of lion-centaur, he could see now that it wasn't trying to kill him—was trapped in a glacier roughly the same size as the one he'd unleashed at the Sports Festival. He approached cautiously and could see its eyes moving around before focusing on the hero-in-training.

Shoto nodded and turned to leave. He glanced backward as he walked out of the arena and could see a point of heat appear around the monster's head. _It won't be too long before that thing escapes._ Shoto sped up his pace; he didn't have any desire for a round two.

He was halfway across the bridge connecting the arena and whatever was on the other side when the ground began to shake. He immediately turned to face the arena, fearing that he hadn't been fast enough.

To his partial relief, it looked like the monster hadn't escaped yet. However, that left the rumbling, which was growing more violent. Shoto reached out to steady himself, struggling to stand upright.

_Cruuumpt!_

Endeavor's heir watched in shock as, with a shower of dust and stone, a spire or tower of some kind rose into the sky from the plateau to the south.

* * *

Eijiro waved at the Foothill Stable workers and began his hike up the mountain. He'd arrived there late yesterday after being dumped in the middle of nowhere by the Big Bad's portal thing. The stable staff had explained where he was and had been manly enough to let him stay the night. They'd even offered to let him stay there, so long as he helped out. While he had been tempted by the offer, Eijiro had heard one of the other patrons mention something that had sounded like "Gorons." When he had asked, the patron had told him about the super manly rock people who lived at the foot of the volcano.

The artificial redhead hadn't been able to resist. A whole bunch of macho people who basically had his Quirk? He had to check them out! So he had explained his plan to the stable head, who in turn had presented him with a bag of food. A traveling merchant with a big red nose and a massive backpack in the shape of a beetle who was staying at the stable also gave him something called "fireproof elixirs," stating that they would be needed the farther up the mountain he got. He'd also provided him with a pretty sturdy walking staff. "Just in case," the stable head had said.

Whatever the old man had meant, Eijiro was glad to have the staff. It made the hike a bit easier, and also made him feel like he was on more of an adventure, which he supposed he was. His mission was to rescue Bakugo, though that was turning out to be far more difficult than he had thought. He frowned, worried about where his friend might be. He had to start somewhere, and maybe the dude had been dumped somewhere on Death Mountain. The boy's lips twitched upwards. _The name certainly fits "Lord Explosion Murder's" personality._

He followed the trail as it wound down past what looked like several large hot springs before winding farther up the mountain. Eijiro would have loved to just soak in those for a while; they looked like they had healing powers. Maybe once he found Bakugo and the others, they could come check these out.

He also quickly realized why the beetle merchant had given him those elixirs. The farther up the path he went, the hotter it got. By midmorning, the air around him was uncomfortably warm, and from what he had been told, he still had several hundred meters of trail to hike before he reached Goron City.

_Might as well give one of these weird potions a shot_. He uncorked one of the bottles and sipped it experimentally. To his surprise, it actually tasted quite good. A bit spicy, but still good. He took another big chug, draining half the bottle in one shot. Immediately, the air around him went down in temperature, or so it seemed. He stared at the remaining liquid in surprise before grinning. _This is great!_

Because he was looking at the bottle, Eijiro noticed the ripples in the elixir before he felt the shaking. It started softly, but quickly escalated until it felt like the whole mountain was going to shake to pieces. The hero-in-training struggled to maintain his balance while he looked for shelter.

_CRUUUUMPT!_

Eijiro winced at the explosively loud sound behind him, even as he reflexively hardened his skin in response and turned to face the threat. Instead of a villain or monster, a large tower was rising up from the ground farther up the mountain. After what felt like ages but was probably only a few moments, the earth stopped shaking and the tower ceased moving.

The soon-to-be hero Red Riot gaped at the sudden appearance of the structure before quickly gulping down the rest of the elixir and hurrying up the trail. It seemed like things weren't all too peaceful in Hyrule now, either. He needed to find the others before things got too crazy.

* * *

Beedle slowly crept up on the Rugged Rhino Beetle. He had spotted the little guy when he had wandered off the road to a small cliff in order to get a better view of the surroundings. He had heard a loud crashing noise and was curious to know what had happened. At the top of the cliff, he had a clear view of Hyrule Field and the old arena, the latter, he was surprised to discover, had been covered by a miniature glacier. Curiosity satisfied, Beedle had turned to leave, and that was when he had spotted this beauty of a beetle.

And what a beauty it was. The armor-like shell had polished gleam that indicated the shell would be nearly as hard as stone. The horns were large and hardly curved, so this was an adult of great skill. The coloration was good; the head was a nice, vibrant green, and the striped browns of the carapace complimented each other nicely. And the size! It was at least as big as Beedle's fist, or maybe two fists. Either made it one of the largest representatives of the species he had ever had the luck to find, and he had to have it.

He knew that the people at the Outskirts Stable thought he was a little weird, and they were right. Beedle knew he was odd, but that didn't bother him. He just enjoyed traveling the region and peddling his wares. Occasionally, he would find a treasure like this Rugged Rhino Beetle that he would absolutely have to add to his collection.

The beetle twitched, and the trader froze. It wouldn't do to be too hasty; that would scare this marvelous specimen away. After a moment, Beetle started to creep forward again. He was almost within reach when he heard a distant rumbling. He barely had time to wonder if there was a storm coming when the ground began to quake. The Rugged Rhino Beetle, sensing the seismic disturbance, buzzed its wings and took flight. Beedle lunged for his airborne prize, but missed, his fingers closing just short of the fleeing insect. Beedle crashed to the ground and was forced to watch what could have been the jewel of his collection fly away.

The trader's curse was lost amid the rumbling of the earth. As Beedle looked around for the source, he heard another crash to the south, and watched as an odd tower that glowed orange erupted from the earth. Farther out across Hyrule Field, similar structures were rising from the ground as well. He rolled over to look up at the old Sheikah building at the top of the hill where the stable was located. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, as the earth's rumbling finally subsided, orange lights and symbols appeared on the surface of the ancient shrine.

Beedle allowed himself a small smile, his lost prize forgotten. "So, it's finally happening."

* * *

Izuku struggled to his feet as the world around him ceased shaking, and he couldn't help but stare. Instead of being surrounded by boulders, he was now dozens of meters in the air looking out across the vast vista below the Plateau. The shadow of the distant mountain—no, that's a _volcano,_ Izuku realized—seemed to reach all the way to the castle at the end of the vast field, though the greenhead was pretty sure that was just his brain settling.

More interesting to him at the moment was that he could see tall towers dotting the landscape; somewhere in the fields, while others had sprouted in the mountains. He could also see a few structures that glowed with the same orange light he associated with the Sheikah Slate—one of which was near the base of the tower he and Link were standing on.

_Wait, where is Link?_ Izuku turned back toward the center of the platform he was on. Link was climbing to his feet next to the terminal, which had been covered in orange lights. As the warrior rose, the robotic voice Izuku had come to associate with these weird buildings spoke up again.

"Distilling local information..."

Link looked at the pedestal and then at Izuku, who shrugged. Their unspoken question was answered as the stone above the terminal began to glow. Lines of blue glyphs crawled down the semi-pillar toward another of the stylized eyes that had appeared at the tip. The two watched warily as the glyphs appeared to coalesce into a drop of glowing liquid that, after hanging on the end of the stone for a moment, dropped and splashed across the Slate's screen, turning the lights of the terminal blue. Link jumped as the lights changed color and bent to investigate.

After a few moments, he leaned back. "Regional map extracted," chirped the machine as the terminal whirled around and released the Slate.

"Is-Is everything okay?" Izuku asked as the blond picked up his tablet.

"Better than okay, I think," Link replied, turning the Slate around. "Here, take a look.

Izuku stepped over to Link and squinted at the screen before grinning. Where before the screen had been blank, save for the blinking dot that had guided them here, now a portion of the screen was lit up, revealing a map of the Plateau. There were also other lines that spidered out from the Plateau. Izuku studied it for a moment before nodding to himself. "These other lines all seem to form sections, which would mean that we only have a small portion of the map." He looked up at Link. "I bet you the other towers out there will give us the missing pieces."

"Figures. It's probably to protect the information." Link hooked the Slate back on his belt. "Let's figure out how to get down from here."

The two started to look for a way down and quickly realized that there was an opening in the floor. When Izuku looked down, he saw that the side of the tower was made out of the same metal shaped into a honeycomb pattern, almost like a makeshift ladder. Several small platforms spiraled down the sides of the tower. _Okay, so we need to climb down to each platform, then_.

"This shouldn't be too bad; it might take a little while, though," Izuku said, glancing back at his friend. Link nodded and took a step toward the hole, but stopped. His face creased in concentration, as if he were trying to listen to something hard to hear. Which, Izuku realized a moment later, was exactly what he was doing.

_Try... try to remember..._

_I can hear her voice again_, Izuku realized. It was difficult to hear, much fainter than back in the cave. _I wonder what changed?_ A glimmering light from behind Link caught his attention, distracting him. Izuku squinted his eyes, trying to see what it was. Link turned, and together the two watched as a brilliant light appeared in what had to have been the center of the castle.

_You... asleep... hundred years._

_One hundred years? What?_ Before he could say anything, the ground began to shake again, though nowhere nearly as strongly as before. In the distance, a dark, purple-tinted fog rose and swirled around the castle. Izuku wasn't sure, but it seemed to him that the fog was trying to crush the glimmering light.

_The beast... When... regains... true power... world... its end._

Izuku watched, eyes wide, as a dark, shadowy _thing_ formed from the fog and flew around the old castle. It opened what looked like a mouth and let out a thunderous roar that Izuku could hear from where he was standing.

As if in response to the beast, the light flared. Izuku winced at the sudden intensity of the light, but the effect on the fog monster was much more drastic. The creature opened its mouth to roar again, but this time, Izuku didn't hear anything. The light surged even brighter, and the creature dissipated.

The woman spoke again as the creature faded. This time, Izuku could hear her clearly, and the urgency in her voice was clear.

_Now then, please hurry, Link. There are other dark powers in the castle whose goals I know not. You and your companion must hurry, Link, before it's too late._

The light faded as the woman finished speaking, returning to its former glimmer. Izuku kept watching the tower, trying to process what the voice had said. He hadn't heard everything, but from what he gathered, whatever that purple fog was was bad. _Wait, that looked like the same color smoke that comes from deak bokoblins_. He gulped as he considered the sheer scale of the monster; if all of the other little monsters were part of it, then who knows how powerful it was. As for the other dark powers she mentioned, Izuku had a sinking feeling that he knew _exactly_ who they were.

"Sounds like we've got some work to do," Link said grimly. The warrior turned and walked over to the ladder. "Come on, we need to figure out how to get off of this plateau."

Izuku nodded, forgetting that Link couldn't see him anymore, before following him. The next thirty minutes or so of precarious climbing from platform to platform made Izuku very glad that he'd done as much training as he had. If he had had to do this before U.A.—or even before he met All Might—he didn't think he would have been able to get down. As it was, the climb, while still tiring, wasn't terribly difficult, and the two of them made it to the bottom safely.

They had no sooner reached the bottom of the tower when they heard a voice calling out to them. Both of them looked up and watched as the Rhoam glided down out of the sky and landed in front of them. As the old man brushed himself off, Izuku couldn't help but wonder where he had come from that he had been able to fly down from such an angle.

"My my," Rhoam said as he pulled his cane-staff from his rope belt, "it would seem we have quite the enigma here. As I'm sure you two just saw, this tower and others just like it have erupted across the land, one after another. It is almost as though... a long-dormant power has awoken quite suddenly." Rhoam adjusted his gaze from the tower to the two companions. "If you do not mind me asking, did anything... odd occur while you were atop the tower? Other than the tower appearing beneath your feet, of course."

"Umm..." Izuku began, not sure what he should say, as the voice had been speaking primarily to Link. The blond, however, removed the problem.

"I—we—heard a voice," he said, gesturing at himself and Izuku and explaining briefly what he had heard.

"Well now!" Rhoam sound surprised. "A voice, you say? And did you happen to recognize this mysterious voice?" Link shook his head, and the old man scratched his beard. "I see. Well, that is unfortunate. Maybe it will come to you in time, as the voice clearly knows you."

His face darkened as a thought occurred to him, and he turned to face the edge of the Plateau and gestured with his staff. "I assume you caught sight of that atrocity enshrouding the castle." Not waiting for a response, the old man continued, his voice laced with bitterness. "That... is Calamity Ganon. One hundred years ago, that vile entity brought the kingdom of Hyrule to ruin. It appeared suddenly and destroyed everything in its path. So many innocent lives were lost in its wake.

"For a century, the very symbol of our kingdom, Hyrule Castle, has managed to contain that evil. But only just barely. There it festers, building its strength for the moment it will unleash its blight upon the land once again. It would appear that moment is fast approaching."

Rhoam turned back to face the two of them, and Izuku noticed that the stone where the old man had planted his staff had been crushed. _He must have lost someone to this Calamity._ A second thought struck Izuku as he studied the old man's face. _He must have been born either during or just after the attack of this Calamity Ganon if he remembers that much. Either would make him super old, though._

Rhoam's voice cut through Izuku's thoughts. "I must ask you, courageous one, do you intend to make your way to the castle?" he asked, looking directly at Link.

Link didn't hesitate. "I do," he said firmly.

The old man chuckled. "I had a feeling you would say that. There is a slight problem, though. Here, on this isolated plateau, we are surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs and high retaining walls, with no way down."

"No-No way down?" Izuku cut in. "But all of these old ruins..."

"There used to be a way up, an old stairwell." Rhoam shook his head. "Alas, it was destroyed during the Calamity. Now, the only way down would be either to jump—and that would lead to a certain and foolish death—or to fly, which isn't possible for Hylians. Of course, if you had a paraglider like mine, that would be quite a different story."

"Paraglider?" Link asked. "You mean that thing that you floated down with?"

Rhoam laughed. "Oho! Piqued your interest, have I? Yes, I didn't come soaring down here on my own feathery wings, you know!" He patted the paraglider at his side. "Worry not—I will happily agree to give you my paraglider—and I might have a spare for you as well, Midoriya. But I can't give them to you for nothing." The old man scratched his beard. "Let me see... what about I trade it for a bit of treasure that slumbers nearby? Come. Let me show you something."

With that, Rhoam walked away from the two and up a small hill just to their north. Link gave Izuku a look before following the old man, and Link quickly followed after. He thought he understood what Link had meant; while he desperately wanted to ask Rhoam why he couldn't just _give_ them the gliders, especially as he apparently understood how urgent things were, he remembered what All Might had said about trusting the man. He sighed and continued up the hill. He just needed to be patient.

Once he reached the top of the rise, Izuku could immediately see what had caught Rhoam's attention. The oddly reflective structure he had noticed earlier had been lit up. Orange lights swirling in the strange patterns Izuku was coming to associate with weird tech stuff covered the base of the building, outlining what appeared to be a doorway.

"So you've noticed the strange lights." Izuku jumped and looked back at Rhoam, who was smiling softly. "It began glowing at the exact moment those towers rose from the ground. I would think that such a place might house some sort of treasure, wouldn't you?" He nodded to himself. "Treasure for the paragliders. A fair exchange."

The old man nodded to himself again and sat down on the bank of the hill. "Go ahead, you two. I'll wait here for your return."

Izuku glanced at Link, who just shrugged. The two of them set out across the field between them and the building. The two were forced to circumnavigate a steep ditch that split the field in two, but other than that, they didn't encounter any obstacles, though Izuku had spotted what looked to be more bokoblins near the edge of the Plateau. Around the base of the building and spread out across the field were small puddles and ponds that the two had to navigate around as well.

A few minutes of walking later brought the two to the foot of the structure. Now that he was closer, Izuku could see that his suspicions had been correct, and that this building was of the same make as the other places they'd been. More importantly, it also had a pedestal located outside what looked like the entrance, which was currently closed by bars of some kind covered in symbols. "I think you need to tap the pedestal with the Slate to make it open," he said to the blond.

"I think you're right." Link placed the tablet on the pedestal, and the two of them watched as the lights on the pedestal changed from orange to blue. A small circle at the end of the entryway also lit up with the blue light, revealing symbols similar to those on the gate. The change in light was accompanied by the same mechanical voice they'd encountered at the other locations.

"Sheikah Slate confirmed. Travel Gate registered to map. Access granted."

As the voice finished speaking, the gate swung open, the bars swinging inwards in a zipper-like fashion, revealing a small chamber with a platform marked with the blue eye in the center.

Izuku wrinkled his nose as a wave of old air washed over him. It had a bit of a stale scent and taste to it, but he didn't think it was poisonous or anything; just old air that hadn't moved around a lot. Since there wasn't any treasure in the chamber, he studied the platform in the center. After a moment, he nodded. "Link, I-I think we need to step on that. I think it's a lift."

"A what?"

"A lift," Izuku explained. "It's a platform that moves up and down in order to transport people or things from different levels of a building."

"Aha." Link also appeared to be studying the platform, and it looked like he'd already reached the same conclusion. "I wasn't sure if there was a word for that, but I had thought that it might be the key to getting inside."

Link stepped into the small chamber and, after a moment's hesitation, stepped onto the platform. After a moment, the lights are the base of the platform flared blue, and the lift shuddered and began to descend. Link looked back at Izuku. "Are you coming?"

"Oh, uh, s-sure!" Izuku scrambled over the edge and dropped down beside Link, wondering just what, exactly, Rhoam had gotten them into.

* * *

Hey everyone! As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always, many thanks to AzureFirehawk and Irmadbro for looking over the draft and providing some feedback. Figured now would be a good time to introduce some of the other characters, though we won't see them again for a little while.

Speaking of next time, I also wanted to give a heads-up that my next semester of college starts up next week. Never fear; I still plan on updating MHH, but updates might take a little longer. I'll have a better idea of what my work load'll look like after next week.

So yeah, new chapter today, a couple revisions to last chapter, and hopefully five will be up before too long. Next time, our pair of heroes gets to explore a shrine or two, so get excited. :D


	5. Chapter 5: Magnesis

It took nearly two minutes for Izuku and Link's lift to reach its destination, and Izuku couldn't help but marvel when it did. The lift shaft ended a couple meters from the floor, turning instead to a shimmering blue curtain of light that revealed the room beyond to the intrepid treasure hunters, a room that looked an awful lot like the one where Izuku and Link had met.

The walls looked like they were the same material as the tower and the cave, which, Izuku realized, probably wasn't a cave at all. Light blue light shone from overhead, though Izuku couldn't see the source of the light from where he was standing. The walls were covered in the same constellation-like patterns of red lights and gold filigree, breaking up the monotonous dark gray. At the end of the room, the wall changed from solid stone to iron bars, allowing the two to see a little further into the shrine.

Other than the strange architecture, Izuku could only see two things of interest in the room: two large iron plates of some kind resting in the center of the room, and another terminal for the Sheikah Slate. Much like the tower terminal, this one had an odd pillar protruding over it.

The platform came to a smooth stop on the floor, and the hard light curtain shimmered and faded, allowing the two to step off the lift. As the walked into the room, Izuku heard a deep, masculine voice in his head.

"To you who sets foot in this shrine, I am Oman Au. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial."

_Shrine? Trial? What trial?_ Izuku waited, but the voice didn't say anything else. "W-What do you think it's talking about, Link?"

"I'm not sure." Link looked after at the terminal, clearly thinking hard. "I think Rhoam knows far more than he's let on, as that is clearly another object the Slate can interact with. What his game is... we'll just have to see."

Link walked over to the pedestal and inserted the Sheikah Slate. The tablet spun into position and the pedestal lit up orange, followed by the same cool feminine voice. "Sheikah Slate authenticated. Distilling rune..."

The column above the pedestal lit up and characters began crawling down the surface toward the Slate, coalescing into a small dew drop at the tip of the pillar. After what felt like an eternity, the drop fell and splashed across the tablet and pedestal, turning the orange lights blue. Izuku leaned over Link's shoulder and watched as the map on the screen disappeared and was replaced with a short row of empty boxes. One of them lit up, revealing what looked like a red magnet.

Link tapped the box and a little window filled with unfamiliar text appeared. Izuku squinted, but it wasn't written in a language that he understood. "What does it say, Link?"

The warrior didn't say anything as he scanned the small paragraph, but Izuku could see a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. After a moment, the blond looked over at him. "It says that we can use this to move metal objects."

Izuku felt his eyebrows rise. "Wait, how? It's a tablet."

Link shrugged. "I'm not sure. According to the directions, if we point the Slate at an object made of metal..." he casually pointed the tablet toward the steel slabs in the center of the room, "...and tap this button..."

Link tapped the magnet again. A ball of red-yellow light shot out of the tablet and flew toward the center or the room where it collided with the nearest plate. The plate began to glow with the same light and floated up about a meter into the air.

"...the object should float," Link finished, grinning broadly now.

Izuku couldn't speak for a moment. When he did find his voice, words began to pour out of his mouth. "That's amazing! I wonder what kind of Quirk was used to make it. Or no, it wouldn't be a Quirk since we're not on Earth. That means that it probably functions using electromagnetism, though how would that work? Can electromagnetics move objects more than just closer and farther away from themselves? That would explain it if it was the case. Ooh, if only Hatsume were here; I bet she would have a bunch of ideas on how thi—"

The sound of Link chuckling distracted Izuku, and he looked up to see his friend grinning at him. "Was I talking out loud again?"

Link nodded, still laughing quietly. "Very quickly, too. I've never heard anyone rattle off words as fast as you did just then."

Izuku felt his cheeks heat up, and he scratched at the back of his head sheepishly. Link, perhaps sensing his embarrassment, added, "Being curious or analytical isn't a bad thing, so long as you don't start speed mumbling when confronted with an opponent." He waved the Slate and the metal sheet floated off to the left before dropping to the ground in front of the bars. "Now, let's see what those sheets were hiding."

A passageway, apparently. When Izuku looked into the hole that had been revealed by moving the metal, he noticed a ladder leading down to a narrow walkway ran off in the direction of the metal bars, presumably further into the shrine. Next to the walkway, water gurgled flowed out from a grate in the wall and gurgled softly in the small canal, flowing in the same direction as the path. It kind of reminded Izuku of what a sewer in a fantasy game might look like, though much cleaner.

The two didn't waste any time. Link clambered down into the small tunnel first, with Izuku right behind them. Once inside, they could see that it wasn't very long at all, opening up into a larger chamber only a few meters away. A wide staircase led up into the upper portion of the room, which was, Izuku realized, the one he had seen through the bars. The only other remarkable thing in the room was a large metal block sitting in the far corner of the room, and a wall of stone blocks, with another metal block nestled in a little left of the center.

Link eyeballed the wall for a moment before pulled the Slate out again. He pointed it toward the steel block and tapped the magnet icon again. The red-gold ball of light shot out once again, latching on to the block and causing it to glow. Link tugged the tablet toward him, and the block slid out of the wall and out into the air. The blocks above it fell down and toppled forward into the room. _Almost like a stairway. For giants._

_Clang!_

Izuku winced as the block crashed to the floor. It didn't seem like Link was too bothered by the sound, though, as he had already started climbing the goliath staircase. The greenhead hurried forward to follow, but as his hand touched the stone—porous and rough rather than the smooth stone that the rest of the shrine was made of—a thought struck him. "H-hey, Link? D-does this seem too easy to you?"

Link paused in the act of pulling himself up to the next block. He held the position for a moment before hauling himself upward, twisting around so that he could sit at the top of the block and face Izuku. "I've had that feeling since we entered the shrine. This hasn't felt like so much a 'trial' as much as 'instruction.'"

Izuku gulped and pulled himself up, wincing as the muscles in his arms, still a little sore from the training camp, groaned in protest. "S-somehow, that's not terribly reassuring."

The warrior reached down and helped pull him up, and the two of them jumped down the other side into a large, open room. There were a series of platforms in the center of the room that led across to the far side, where two giant doors were set in the wall. Izuku also spotted a ledge protruding from the the wall near the far side of the room that had what looked like a chest on it. Water trickled around the base of the platforms, most likely, Izuku realized, coming from the slipway they had passed earlier.

Link's outstretched hand kept the hero-in-training from walking further into the room. Izuku opened his mouth to ask why, but then he heard; a faint, metallic skittering noise. The sound was accompanied by the sound of sloshing water, suggesting that whatever was making it was down in the small moat. Link stowed the Slate and slowly crept forward toward the edge. He was almost halfway there when a clawed metallic tendril appeared over the side of the platform.

* * *

Link watched grimly as the dripping machine pulled itself up onto the platform. He didn't know why his stomach felt like it was lined with lead, or why the machine looked so blight-blasted _familiar_. Something about the machine, with its spindly legs, squat, glowing body, and single blue eye, filled him with dread that, he imagined, a rabbit might feel when it sees a fox.

"Izuku, be careful. This thing is far more dangerous than a bokoblin."

The warrior didn't wait for his strange friend's response. Instead, he unsheathed his sword and pulled out his shield before slowly creeping forward once more. The dome on the top of the little scuttler swiveled back and forth, its baleful gaze fixing first on Izuku, then Link, then Izuku, before resting on Link. Blue light began to swirl into the eye, causing it to glow more brightly.

_wwhhhHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRR!_

_Pew!_

_Cruumpt!_

Link dove to the side, rolling to a stop next to the edge of the platform and avoiding the bright blue projectile that flew through the space he had just vacated. The sound of the explosion behind him confirmed what he had originally thought; he didn't want to take a hit from this thing if he could avoid it.

He glanced up at the machine before rolling back toward the center of the platform, narrowly avoiding another blast of blue energy. As he came to his feet, he could see another shot charging up. Link cursed again and readied his shield, ready to take the hit. But the hit never came. Instead, he heard a yell.

"SMASH!"

He glanced over his shield and saw Izuku, surrounded by green lightning and kicking the machine. Time seemed to slow down for a moment as Link watched the energy that had built up in the evil blue eye swell before the demon soared across the room and into the far wall.

_BOOM!_

Debris rained out across the room, clinking against the floor and walls of the shrine and splashing into the water below. A few pieces even reached as far back as the pair, and Link too refuge behind his shield once again, letting the hot pieces of metal deflect harmlessly away.

Izuku's yelp told him that the greenhead—Link still couldn't believe that the boy's natural hair color was _green_, of all things—hadn't been so lucky. The boy was hopping on one foot while frantically brushing smoldering bits off his strange clothes. "Damn it, that hurt," he said. "That little robot was way more dense than I thought."

"Are you okay?" Link asked. He quickly sheathed his sword and went over to examine Izuku's leg.

The greenhead winced as Link prodded it. "I-I think it'll be all right. I didn't use too much of S-Superpower, so I don't think there's any lasting damage." He gingerly rested some of his weight on it, wincing again. "It's going to be sore for a bit, though."

Link eyed his friend. "Well, we'll keep an eye on it. Maybe don't—_what did he say he did to the slime?—_punt anything else for now, okay?"

Izuku nodded, and Link sighed. The longer the two of them were together, the more strongly he felt that the two of them were more similar than was probably wise. A thought crossed his mind, and he chuckled to himself. _I may not remember my past, but I have the instincts to make sure that I don't repeat it._

Now that he was sure his companion was uninjured—well, mostly uninjured—the warrior turned to look for a way across. A single metal slab, like the two from the first room, stretched between the middle platform and the one the two were standing on, while the space on the other side of the center terrace was empty. He cocked his head slightly, his eyes narrowing as he considered. _Surely, it can't be as easy as that... can it? Well, I guess there's one way to find out._ He strode across the steel bridge, Izuku limping along behind him, and unhooked the Slate once he got to the other side, tapping the magnesis box as he did so. Within moments, he had maneuvered the makeshift bridge around to allow the duo to cross the second gap, and a few more moments put them solidly on the other side.

Before examining the door, Link used the tablet to lift the steel chest down to the floor. He had noticed it earlier, before the robot had appeared, and from Izuku's nod as he turned off magnesis, he gathered the greenhead had seen it, too.

The chest itself, however, wasn't like the ones they'd found earlier. Unlike the others, there didn't appear to be any sort of latch or lock; instead, there was a circular panel inlaid with orange lights that formed two concentrated circles. There were more lights inlaid in a thick band that ran from the lid to the bottom of the chest.

Link heard Izuku shift behind him. "I-I think I might have an idea on how to open it." The greenhead hobbled past and knelt down in front of the chest. "B-Back home, we have these puzzle boxes that are like little chests that can be opened by moving things around the right way. I think that this is something like them." He traced the patterns on the lid and on the bottom of the chest for a moment before nodding to himself and putting a hand on the panel. Link could see his friend's face scrunch up for a moment, and he wondered if the greenhead had been wrong.

After a moment, Izuku's face cleared, and leaned into and twisted the panel. It spun around silently, lining up the two protruding light patterns with the patterns on the rest of the chest.

_Click._

"Got it!" Izuku exclaimed as the lights flashed white and faded into the familiar, brilliant blue. The chest popped open, and Link leaned past the apparent puzzle master to investigate the contents. Inside was a bow and quiver nearly identical Izuku's. The teen extracted the bow and held it out. "Here. I've already got one of my own."

"Thanks." Link slung the bow across his back and hooked the quiver to his belt. "Now, let's find out what's behind that door."

The door proved to be just as simple to solve as the rest of the shrine had been. A simple tug with magnesis caused both doors to swing outwards, revealing a short flight of stairs leading up to a small viewing platform. A veil of shimmering blue light hung in front of the platform and seemed to surround another raised square platform. More interesting to Link, however, was what was on the plinth. Link heard Izuku gasp behind him. "I-Is that a _person_ in there?"

Link ignored Izuku's gasp of realization, walking ahead of his companion. As he climbed the stairs, he noticed that the same oddly familiar eye had faded into being in the center of the veil, almost as if it was a seal. When he got close enough, he reached out and tapped it. The barrier, hard and yet paradoxically soft at the same time, bent under his fingers before molding back to its original appearance.

Light rippled away from the eye and across the veil, revealing that the veil was not as solid as it appeared, but instead was made up of dozens of thin rods of light. Each of these rods began to glow when the ripple effect touched it, going from light blue to a brilliant blue-white. As the ripple finally faded, the veil shattered, spewing shards of energy and light outwards across the room. Link winced and covered his face, but didn't feel anything touch him. He glanced backward to find that the shards had slowed to a halt and were floating in the air, immobile streaks of blue energy. Izuku was looking up at him, eyes wide. The warrior nodded before turning back to deal with whatever he'd unleashed.

That "whatever" turned out to be a mummified figure, seated cross-legged, as if meditating. If it wasn't for the gentle, almost imperceptible rise and fall of the figure's chest, Link would have thought that they had disturbed a crypt of some sort. After a moment, it spoke, though Link could not see its lips move.

"You have proven to possess the resolve of a true hero. I am Oman Au, the creator of this trial. I am but a humble monk, blessed with the sight of Goddess Hylia and dedicated to helping those who seek to defeat Ganon." The monk paused for a moment before continuing, its deep voice taking on a reflective quality. "With your arrival, my duty is now fulfilled. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, allow me to bestow this gift upon you... Please accept this Spirit Orb."

Oman Au stopped speaking, and silence filled the room. After a moment, a purple sphere emerged from the monk's chest and drifted down toward Link. As it got closer, Link could see some sort of stylized bird depicted within, but before he could get a good look at it, the Orb touched his chest.

Link gasped as warmth filled his body. The Orb broke apart into streamers of light that swirled around him before entering his chest at the same point. Link clutched his chest in surprise, and after a few moments, the strange heat faded.

_This just gets more and more interesting._ The warrior looked back up at the monk and thought he saw the ancient lips twitch upwards. "One final thing. Value your companion and his friends. They may yet prove vital to Ganon's defeat." Oman Au opened his eyes, and they shone with an intense inner light that spoke of ages long past. His lips opened, and his deep voice creaked from age. "Now, may the Goddess smile upon you both."

As the final word faded into silence, particles of green light quickly rose from the monk and started to float away. Within moments, the monk was gone. Link felt his chest again, and he thought he understood why. He squared his shoulders and walked back down the stairs to his dumbfounded comrade. "Come on, we're finished here."

The two retraced their steps through the shrine and soon were back out on the surface. Link blinked several times as the lift came to a stop, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the sudden change in light. Most of the day had passed away, and the sun was low on the western horizon. Which presented a problem.

"We were inside for too long," Link said grimly. "I'd wanted to get off the plateau tonight, but that doesn't look like it'll be possible."

Izuku shaded his eyes with a hand and peered toward the hill where they'd left the old man. "I-I don't see Rhoam anywhere. I guess he went back to camp?"

Link started walking. "Well then, let's go find him."

* * *

"Welcome back, young champions!"

Despite his residual irritation at being forced to stay on the plateau another day, Link couldn't help but smile. "Good to see you too, All Might. How did the exploration go?"

The skeletal man shrugged. "Not much to say. The old temple must have been gorgeous when it was in good repair. Rhoam shared some more of its history, and how it used to house sacred relics of great power." The hero grinned suddenly. "I did run into one or two of these 'bokoblins' you talked about. Tenacious little creatures, but nothing I couldn't handle."

_Nothing _you _couldn't handle? What kind of man are you?_ Link decided that that was a question that could wait for later. Right now, he had more important questions. "Good to hear that things went well. Has Rhoam come back yet?"

The other blond nodded and pointed back toward the sheltered fire. "He's preparing some sort of stir fry."

"Thank you."

Link walked past the old hero and up toward the fire. He had to admit, the old man knew how to cook. The food smelled great, and from what he could see as he approached, it looked tasty, too. Rhoam, for his part, didn't look up from the stir fry until Link had sat down opposite him, and when he did, there was a twinkle in the old man's eye that Link didn't trust. "Oho! It seems you managed to get your hands on a Spirit Orb. Well done!"

Link narrowed his eyes. "How did you know?"

"Clairvoyance!" the old man exclaimed, gesturing with the spoon he was using. He chuckled again. "...or perhaps just something similar. As one gets older, it can become more difficult to see what is right before one's own eyes; however, that which was once hidden from view can often be crystal clear. But perhaps that is not true for everyone, oho ho!" The hermit paused for a moment, and when he continued speaking, his voice had taken on a musing tone. "The appearance of those towers and the awakening of the Oman Au shrine... it is all connected to that Sheikah Slate you carry on your hip there."

The warrior touched the Slate out. "You know that I used this to activate the tower. What does any of this have to do with the Spirit Orb?" Link asked as Rhoam went back to stirring the pot.

"It has been some time since I have seen that Sheikah Slate." The hermit stared into the pot as he spoke. "Long ago, a highly advanced tribe known as the Sheikah inhabited these lands. The great power of their wisdom saved this kingdom time and time again. But alas, their ancient technology disappeared long ago... or so it is said."

He tried some of the stir fry and shook his head. "Just a little longer. Anyway, it is interesting to think how something like that survived all this time, hidden away in a shrine. These shrines are tucked away in numerous places across the land. On this plateau alone, I believe there are still three more. Bring me the treasure from each of those shrines... and I will give you—and your companion—my paragliders.

"T-That wasn't the deal!" Izuku exclaimed. Link jumped; he hadn't heard Izuku and All Might come up behind him, so intent had he been on what Rhoam was saying.

"Oh? Well, I suppose I changed my mind. Consider it as training, for the land of Hyrule is not nearly as safe as it once was. I'm sure that won't be a problem for a couple of young go-getters like yourselves!"

The old man held up a hand to forestall any objections. "It is for your own good and understanding, trust me. To aid you, I will teach you a trick for finding shrines: it's always best to survey the landscape from a high point. Let's see here..." he looked out across the landscape thoughtfully. "How about you make your way to the top of that tower again?"

"You're joking."

Rhoam laughed. "I'm afraid not. But do not worry! I have another little trick to share with you to aid in your efforts. Take a look at the map on your Sheikah Slate."

Link sighed, but pulled the map out anyway as the old man began to ladle food onto wooden plates he had pulled out of his bag. The map looked the same as before, except this time he noticed something different. There were several blue icons on the map, marking the location of the shrine, the tower, and the cave he had awoken in. He looked up from the map and accepted a plate of food from Rhoam. "Are you talking about these symbols?"

Rhoam nodded and continued to hand out food as he spoke. "Indeed. From what I have heard, if the Slate's user taps on one of those icons, they are warped or teleported to that spot. I... do not know if it actually works as such, however."

Link paused mid-bite, thinking. If such were true, it would make travel to other areas considerably easier. "Does it work with multiple people?"

"That, I could not tell you. I suspect that you would have to try it and find out."

The blond nodded and continued eating. The food, a mixture of spicy peppers and meat, was delicious in its simplicity, far better than the fish from that morning. As he was eating, he could feel the warmth from the peppers spread throughout his body, and sweat broke out on his forehead. He grinned; as quirky as Rhoam was turning out to be, at least he could cook decent food.

After a few more bites, he was finished. He glanced over at Izuku, who had gotten seconds. "Do we want to give this a go?"

The greenhead swallowed down another bite before nodding. "I-If we could teleport, it might save us a lot of travel time, especially if we need to visit all four shrines."

"Okay, let's give it a go, then."

Link stood up and pulled the map out again. He paused, considering how to get both of them to teleport, assuming it worked at all. "Why don't you grab onto the Slate as well?"

Izuku nodded and quickly swallowed the last of his meal before grabbing the other side of the Slate. "Ready when you are."

The blond didn't need to be told twice, and tapped the icon for the tower. Immediately, a feeling of weightlessness overcame him as everything around him turned blue. He looked down and realized that his feet had left the ground and were actually floating maybe a span in the air. A glance at Izuku showed that the greenhead was in the exact same position as he was and was just as clearly freaking out a little bit. Link opened his mouth to reassure his friend, but no words came out. Instead, he watched as streamers of blue light started to come off his and Izuku's bodies.

The weightless feeling increased, and within moments, Link was zipping through the air, twisting and turning the wind. He could _feel_ the different portions of his body spinning around each other. He couldn't see Izuku, but he sensed the boy soaring just off to his right, and he imagined that he was in a similar situation.

Just as quickly as it had started, the teleportation ended. Link gasped as his body reconfigured back into its normal state, energy reforming into solid matter. Beside him, he heard Izuku heaving great lungfuls of air, and he couldn't say that he blamed him; the experience had been unsettling, to say the least.

After a few moments, Izuku straightened. "O-Okay. T-That's useful, but I don't think I'd want to do that very often."

Link just nodded. It wasn't his favorite, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. "We'll need to use it once more to get back over to the cave, but that should be it for now. For now, let's find those shrines."

The two split up to look. It turned out to not be terribly difficult, as each of the shrines was glowing, making them much easier to spot in the rapidly encroaching night. One was located in the center of some ruins, another near the edge of a cliff, and the last at the top of a mountain. Link couldn't help but despair a little bit as he looked out at their varied destinations. He sighed.

Izuku patted his shoulder. "I-It'll be all right. If we leave early tomorrow, I bet you we could get to that shrine in the ruins by noon."

Link repressed another sigh and smiled weakly instead. "You're right. Let's go back to camp. We can deal with this tomorrow."

* * *

And here's chapter five! Link and Izuku have quite the adventure ahead of them, one that will probably take far longer than our impatient Hero of the Wild would like.

Speaking of taking a while, it'll probably be about as long in between chapters for the next bit. I've got a book list that's literally as long as my arm for university. Thanks for your patience, everyone! I've loved reading people's responses, and have actually implemented pieces from some of them, as they make the most sense. Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see all next time.


	6. Chapter 6: Bombs and PTSD

The rising sun found the two heroes already on their way to the second shrine. They had compared the distances between the various shrines and their campsite and had decided that it would be best to investigate the shrine in the old ruins first, as it was far closer and more accessible than the other two.

As much as neither of them had wanted to, they had agreed that it would be faster by far to teleport to the tower and climb down again, rather than walking to their destination from camp. Link stretched once he reached the bottom, waiting for Izuku to finish clambering down. While the climb down hadn't been terribly difficult, he had still worked up a little bit of a sweat.

Once he reached the ground the greenhead scanned the landscape ahead of them. "It looks like we have a couple of ways to get there. We could either take the direct route, but we might have to do some more hiking, or we could go through that valley with that weird skull rock."

"That second route will probably have enemies that we will have to contend with," Link said, looking out across the former plaza. "We should avoid them for now and return when we've found better equipment."

"I-It would also probably take longer," Izuku agreed. "Through the hills it is, then."

Izuku started down the hill, Link following close behind him. The quiet crunching rustle of grass being trodden underfoot gave way to the clicking of heels against stone. Link shaded his eyes and squinted up at the sun as they walked before glancing around at the plaza. _At least we're only going through a small portion of the plaza._ Eventually, the plaza gave way to rolling hills that, despite their imposing stature, proved to not be too difficult a climb. Link crested the top of the hill and saw the old ruins spread out below him.

Time and the elements had long since worn the roof of the structure away, and Link could see that whatever floor had once existed had long since given way to emerald turf. All that remained of what must have once been a grand structure were several walls that, from a distance, gave the impression that the building had been a manor or castle of some kind. He could also see the shrine rising out of a large room at the rear of the structure that could have been a throne room, if this had been a castle.

"W-Wow, that looks amazing!" Izuku exclaimed. Link turned his head and saw the boy's eyes shining in wonder. "If it's a place like that, there's sure to be something interesting, right?"

The warrior nodded. There would certainly be something of worth hidden in those ruins, but he didn't yet know what it might be. Wordlessly, he started down the hill, listening to the grass rustle in the gentle breeze that seemed to almost constantly run over the plateau.

If not for the looming sense of dread, the entire scene was really quite peaceful.

Within minutes, he had reached the ruins, and he could see now that it must have been an old castle from how tall the walls were. _I wonder if it belonged to a duke or something_. Traces of the old cobblestone flooring poked out of the grass, but for the most part, everything was gone. More curiously, he noted several of the same large, inert machines that had been littered around the old temple. From the looks of things, they were just as out of place here as elsewhere.

Behind him, Izuku whistled as he joined Link in what probably had been a front hall. The remaining weathered walls ran along ahead of the two before opening into a wider chamber littered with several of the mechanical corpses. The remnants of crumbling pillars poking up from among the lumps of metal hinted that this room had possibly been the heart of the structure. Beyond those, Link could see the shrine peeking out over the far wall.

Izuku could see it, too. "Come on, let's get the spirit orb before we explore." The greenhead slipped past Link and into the room. The blond rolled his eyes and started to follow before freezing in place as one of the corpses shifted.

"Izuku! Stop!"

The boy stopped short at Link's hissed command. He turned to face him, and Link could see the question forming on his lips. Before it could be voiced, Link just pointed at the machine that had moved. "What's wrong with it?" Izuku asked, taking a step toward it.

_CREeeeaaak._

What Link had come to think of as the head of the robot extended slightly from its body and twisted around a few times before lines of blue flared to life across the surface, illuminating more of the odd twisting patterns that the duo had encountered already. As the lines covered the head, a single, baleful eye flared to life and locked on to Izuku, training a small, red line of light on the boy.

Link lurched forward, his feeling of dread blossoming in his chest. "Move, Izuku! NOW!"

The greenhead didn't need a second warning. He dashed away from the machine, trying to put some distance between himself and the demon turret. No matter how quickly he ran, though, the red light continued to follow him, and Link could see energy building up around the robot's eye.

A slight tugging at the back of the blond's mind said that Izuku only had one hope. Time seemed to slow for Link as he unsheathed his sword and ran at the robot, his eyes never leaving his target. When he was close enough, he leapt up toward the eye, stabbing forward with the sword.

_FFFFFSCCHEEEWWW!_

_CRUUUMPT!_

A brilliant flash of light blinded Link as he felt his sword connect with his target before being ripped from his hand. He jumped off of the robot as soon as his feet touched its surface, wanting to avoid as much of the too-slow energy blast as possible. The warrior tumbled to a stop and furiously rubbed at his eyes, trying to restore his vision. He wasn't sure how much damage he had just inflicted, but he didn't want to be near this thing if it exploded.

As the white-and-black spots cleared from his vision, time seemed to reassert itself and he could see that the robot was no longer moving smoothly, twitching its head back and forth as if it was trying to watch two things at once. The head around the eye had been melted some by the force of the blast, but the eye itself was still intact and roving, searching for targets. Link tensed, ready to run; something about the monster seemed off now. The lights covering its surface had changed from a reddish-pink back to the familiar blue, and it was no longer gathering energy for energy blasts. Within a few moments, the twitching stopped and the lights slowly faded, leaving the hulk inert once again.

Link waited for several moments, but the machine didn't show any other signs of life. Slowly, he reached down and picked up a rock and threw it at his target. No response. _Either it's playing the long game... or I killed it._ After a few seconds more of silence, the blond allowed himself to relax slightly, and in so doing heard Izuku's panicked breathing from behind the pillar. Link sighed in relief. "You can come out now. I think it's dead."

He watched as Izuku cautiously poked his head from his hiding place and saw the relief that crossed the boy's face when he realized that Link was, in fact, alive. "Y-You're all right! W-What happened? I-I heard the explosion, but I didn't see where the laser went."

Link felt his lips twitch upwards. "I stabbed it." His smile grew as he watched Izuku's face twist in visible confusion. "In the eye." He gestured at the monster.

Izuku squinted at it before his eyes widened. "Oh, it's melted! When you stabbed it, it had charged up a lot of energy and was getting ready to fire. The force of the sword must have disrupted all the energy in the blast I heard." Izuku took a few tentative steps closer to the thing, his eyes narrowing again. "If you look at it carefully, it looks like the rest of the robot might have been charred from the blast." He glanced back at the blond and frowned. "Actually, how are you not burned, Link? You said you stabbed it in the face?"

The warrior glanced down at himself and saw that the greenhead was right: other than the occasional spot that danced across his vision, he seemed perfectly fine. "...I'm not sure." He touched his face and winced. "I think I'll have something like a sunburn later, but it doesn't feel too bad."

"Huh." Izuku watched him for a minute before shrugging. "Well, I guess we got lucky then. Those big robots are no joke."

A memory flickered at the back of Link's mind at Izuku's words, but he couldn't quite grasp it fully before it had slipped away. All he retained was the echo of deadly determination and searing pain, which he hurriedly released. _More lucky than you realize, I think._

The blond shuddered and resumed the search for his sword. He could hear Izuku mumbling to himself about something or other behind him, but he didn't really pay much mind to what he was saying. Link had only known him for a few days, but he knew that that was just how the boy processed his thoughts.

After a few more moments of rustling about in the grass, Link spotted the glint of sunlight reflecting off of something metallic, which turned out to be his sword—or what was left of it. When he extracted it from the corner it had buried itself in, he discovered that the bottom half of the blade had snapped off, and the rest of the sword seemed to be badly melted. He tossed it back to the ground. _Well, so much for that_.

Disgusted with the unavoidable waste of a perfectly good sword, Link turned back to face Izuku. The greenhead had wandered over to the wall separating this chamber from the one the shrine sat in and was examining the pile of rubble that had filled the archway leading between the two rooms. _I'll just leave him to that for the moment_. There were other things worth examining anyway. Like the wall. A closer examination revealed that the stone had worn down in many places, especially along the seams between blocks of stone, creating many cracks and rough edges around the blocks. He glanced back at Izuku, who was still mumbling to himself. _I'll test this first, and then we'll get his attention._

It was as easy as he had thought. The worn stones turned out to be plenty easy to climb; the holes and ridges he'd noticed held his weight just fine. A few moments later and he was straddling the top of the wall and looking down into the next room. It was completely overgrown with tall grass and weeds that surrounded the shrine, but was otherwise unremarkable.

Time to get his friend. "Hey, Izuku!" The boy jumped and looked up at Link. "The wall's a pretty easy climb; come on up, and we can get on with this."

Link watched the boy size up the wall before grinning. "Nah, I've got this." The greenhead crouched, and what looked like green lightning began to arc around his body before he leapt. Link followed him as he sailed up and over the wall, clearing it easily and landing softly in the turf on the other side. Izuku looked back up at him. "See?"

"That's certainly useful," Link admitted, swinging himself over the wall and dropping to the ground. "Another aspect of your..." He trailed off, trying to think of the word the boy had used.

"My Quirk? Yeah, it is. I just channel my strength to my legs—well, my whole body, actually, but I try and focus on my legs—and it lets me jump pretty high." His eyes took on a faraway cast. "It took a bit of practice figuring that out. I bounced between buildings for an entire night."

Link grunted. "It sounds like it. Well, let's get on with this." He pulled the Sheikah Slate from his belt and tapped it against the shrine's console. The lights pulsed orange and then faded to the safe familiar blue as the door folded back. The lift lights flared to life and twinkled invitingly at the two heroes.

Silently, the two filed on and rode down into this next shrine. When the platform finally came to a stop, the two found themselves in a large room not unlike the one in the previous shrine. The walls were filled with the same constellation patterns as before, and the floor sloped downward near the far wall, which appeared to be made of crumbling blocks of some kind. Most importantly, the now-familiar terminal was set in the far corner of the room, waiting expectantly. Other than that, Link couldn't see anything else of note or concern in the room, so he started toward the console.

"Erm, Link?"

Link stopped mid-step at the anxious tone of Izuku's voice and looked back over his shoulder. "What?"

"Where's the exit?"

Link frowned and quickly examined the room again. His frown deepened as he realized that Izuku was right; other than the lift, there was no way out of the room. "Maybe the door will open once we've interacted with the terminal."

He took another step forward and froze again as another voice spoke, one that sounded eerily like Oman Au's voice.

"To you who sets foot in this shrine... I am Ja Baij. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial."

The voice of the sage, Ja Baij, faded, leaving the two in silence once more. Link took a tentative step forward, glancing back at Izuku, who was just watching him. Satisfied, he resumed walking and quickly reached the terminal, where he inserted the Slate and watched it whirl into place. The console flashed and runes began to run down the surface of the rock hanging overhead.

"What do you suppose the liquid is?" Izuku asked, joining him by the console.

"Magic, spirit energy—who knows?" Link shrugged. It didn't matter much to him, though he couldn't help but be a little curious as well.

After a few more moments, the bead of blue liquid dropped and splashed across the Slate as it had last time. As the lights faded, Link leaned over the tablet to see what he had gotten. The screen displayed the eye symbol for a moment before fading to what Izuku had called the 'runes menu'. For a moment, the only rune available was Magnesis, but that changed quickly as the two boxes to the left briefly flashed before revealing two symbols that looked suspiciously familiar.

Link read the title of the new runes and the directions that went along with them and could feel a grin spreading across his face. He barely heard the console chirping at him as he removed the Slate and slipped it back onto his belt.

He turned around to face Izuku, who had been watching him curiously. "So... what'd we get?"

In response, Link just held out his hands and concentrated. Blue light coalesced above his hand and formed into a sphere that dropped into his outstretched hand. He chuckled lightly at the look on Izuku's face. "It appears that we now have access to bombs."

Izuku's startled look quickly changed to a grin that matched Link's own. "Oh! That's probably how we're supposed to get further into the shrine! I wonder if the explosions are as big as Kacchan's?"

_Kacchan?_ Link thought about asking, but decided to hold off for now. _Plenty of time to talk on the way to the next shrine._ "I think you're right. Shall we take a look?"

He didn't wait for his friend's response before turning and throwing the bomb toward the crumbling blocks. It hit the wall and bounced around the floor for a moment before coming to a rest. Link pulled the Slate out and thumbed the bomb button.

_CRUMPT!_

The explosion shattered the blocks, shooting rock fragments across the room and obscuring the area in a cloud of dust. Link coughed and waved his hand in front of his face to clear the air in front of his face, and he could hear Izuku doing the same behind him.

The dust quickly settled, revealing a passage that ran through the wall. Link smiled. "Good call. Let's see where this goes."

"R-Right!"

The two followed the tunnel for a short distance before Link spotted another pair of crumbling stone blocks in the left wall, presumably blocking off another passage. Directly opposite the blocks, the passageway forked off to the right. The blond couldn't see what was down that tunnel yet, but he could only assume that they would find more of the blocks to break.

And he was right; at the end of the short tunnel, the right wall had also been comprised of breakable boulders. Izuku glanced back and forth between the two. "W-Which path do we take now?"

Link thought for a moment before holding his hands out. Another bomb dropped into his waiting arms, except this one was a big cube, which he set down by the soon-to-be-open hallway. "Come on. I've got an idea."

"What are you going to do?"

"See if we can't blow both our options open at once."

They back tracked to the elevator area, pausing on the way so Link could drop the spherical bomb next to the left fork. When they reached the main chamber, Link pulled his tablet out again and tapped both of the bomb icons. The bomb at the end of the corridor exploded, and Link could only assume that he'd detonated the other as well.

Once the smoke had cleared, the two once again proceeded into the tunnel, stopping at the fork. Now that it was clear, Link could see that the left path immediately took a turn to the right and ended in an alcove with a ladder leading up to the next level of the shrine. He glanced down the right path, but couldn't see too far beyond where the blocks used to be.

Izuku fidgeted beside him, clearly struggling with the same question he was. After a moment, he spoke up. "I-I think that we should split up here. That way we can cover more ground. I can take the right path while—"

Link shook his head and cut in. "Absolutely not. What if one of us runs into one of those little sentry robots?"

"Then whichever of us discovers it can pull back and wait for the other—or fight it, if needed." Izuku quickly unsheathed his sword and held it out to Link. "Here; I can use my Quirk if I need to fight, but you don't have any weapons other than your bow and the bombs, and those take a bit of time to set up."

_Time. Why does that seem significant?_ Link stared at the proffered sword for a few moments before reluctantly taking it and slipping it into his empty scabbard. "All right, we'll do it your way. If you run into trouble, don't be afraid to pull back."

Izuku nodded. "I will. It doesn't look like there should be too much down that path, unless there's another ladder that's just hidden by the corner."

"Good luck, then."

Link turned away from his friend and climbed up the short ladder into a larger, more open room. To his immediate right was a small pit that a floating—_It floats!_—platform was strafing across. One the other side of the pit, the way forward was blocked by more of the crumbling blocks.

He took a moment to examine the obstacle, eyes narrowed. _Obviously, these shrines are meant not so much as a trial but more as a tutorial to familiarize me with the different functions of the Sheikah Slate. Just as obviously, I don't want to stand on the platform when the bomb goes off to break the rocks. That would suggest an equally obvious solution._

He stared at the moving platform for a moment before he came to the solution. Summoning the cube bomb, he placed it on the platform when it reached his side of the pit and stepped back. The platform, after a brief pause, floated back across to the other side. Link pulled the Slate out and, once the bomb was close enough, detonated it.

The rock wall crumbled from the blast, revealing what appeared to be a much larger room on the other side. Link quickly crossed the pit and observed the room. The chamber was bucket shaped, with the high side of the bucket on the other side. Link could see the old monk's stasis bubble and a ladder leading up to that side of the room, but directly on top of the ladder were more of the stone blocks, dozens this time; Ja Baij's final test, apparently. _How am I supposed to get a bomb up there?_

_SSCHUUNK!_

The blond jumped as several large pillars shot out of the ground near him, pointing upward and outward from his side of the room. They were covered in strange circular patterns, some of which pulsed with the familiar blue light of the shrine.

_SSCHUUNK!_

Just as quickly as they had appeared, they receded into the ground again, and Link spotted another pillar that had sprouted from the opposite side of the room. He also noticed that the farthest platform from him had a chest on it.

The quiet shuffle of footsteps behind him alerted him to Izuku's return. "So," he started, turning to face his companion, "what did you find down there?"

He cut off as he noticed that apparently things had gone well for Izuku, as the youth had a _claymore_ strapped to his back. "Erm, where did you find that?"

"Hey, Link!" Izuku responded brightly. "There really wasn't anything down that tunnel. In fact, the only thing I found was a large chest that actually had this sword inside it. I figured that, as I had given you mine, that I should probably take this one along with me, just in case."

The warrior just shook his head. "Well, I'm glad that there wasn't anything down there waiting for you." He eyed the large sword strapped to Izuku's back before focusing again on his friend's face. "Do you know how you use that?"

Izuku's smile wilted a little. "N-Not really, no. I didn't think it would be too difficult."

Link sighed. "You're a good kid. When we get back to camp tonight, I'm going to show you some basics about using that thing so you don't kill yourself—or me." He saw Izuku's face shifting a bit and decided to try and distract him. "Anyway, we need a way to get a bomb up to those blocks. Any ideas?"

It worked. Izuku's eyes immediately started roving the room, taking everything in. As his thought process took off, so did his mouth; a rapid, near unintelligible stream of words poured out as the hero-in-training worked over the problem, pacing back and forth to examine the room. Link didn't even try to decipher what he was saying and instead just sat down and waited for him to finish.

He didn't have to wait too long. After examining the piston-pillars, Izuku finally stopped muttering and slapped himself on the head. "I'm stupid."

This statement contradicted everything Link knew about the boy. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm good, just realized that there's a simple solution to the problem."

Link waited for the boy to explain, and Izuku didn't keep him waiting. "It looks like there's some sort of mechanism for you to drop the round bomb into that will then launch it across the room, where you could detonate it. But that looks like it was built with only one person in mind. Since I'm here, I can just jump up and drop the bomb on the rocks for you."

_Oh._ "That does make this simpler. Here."

Link created another of the cube bombs and handed it over to Izuku. The greenhead took it and trotted over to the other side of the room. His Quirk's signature green lightning manifested itself as he channeled power into his legs and leapt upwards, easily cresting the lip of the platform's ledge before bouncing up onto the blocks. He quickly placed the bomb and jumped back down to the platform, where he took refuge by the sage. "All right, go ahead." The blond needed no second bidding.

_CRUMPT!_

The rocks crumbled away, leaving the path clear for Link to clamber up. Once at the top, he approached the sage and examined the old person. Like Oman Au, Ja Baij was a skeltal figure with long, white hair and very pointy ears whose sex was impossible to determine, though Link had a suspicion that it was, or had once been, a man. His only adornment was a simple pair of trousers, a very large hat, and several gold bangles that hung from his emaciated wrists. _What has kept these people alive for so long?_

Shaking the thought off, Link turned to Izuku. "Thanks. That was much easier than I would have been otherwise, I think. There was a chest back in the large room; while I deal with this, do you want to go investigate?"

"I can do that, sure!" Izuku sped off, leaving Link alone with the sage. He faced the dessicated figure again and shuddered slightly. Every instinct he had in him said that whatever was keeping these ancient Sheikah alive couldn't be natural and must, therefore, be eliminated. While he didn't know what to do with that sensation, he could at least free the sage's spirit.

He stepped up on the raised pedestal before the stasis field and tapped the glowing eye. The field quickly went from blue to a brilliant white before shattering, exposing the sage to the world once more.

Ja Baij opened his eyes and looked at the warrior. A small smile gently creased his ancient face as his voice echoed again in Link's mind. "You have done well, hero. Your resourcefulness and that of your companion in overcoming this trial speaks to the promise of a hero. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I bestow upon you this Spirit Orb."

Light coalesced into a shimmering sphere between the sage's compressed hands before flowing toward Link. The warrior knew what to expect this time, but the sensation of the Spirit Orb sliding into his chest still surprised him. It felt like something pleasantly warm had nestled itself inside his chest next to his heart before breaking apart and flowing through his body.

The sage's smile grew larger as he closed his eyes. "May the Goddess smile upon you." With this final telepathic message, Ja Baij disintegrated into a cloud of green dust that, too, disintegrated until there was nothing left of the man.

Link stared at where the man had been for a moment before a thud from behind him caught his attention. Izuku had returned, and in his hands he was carrying... _Is that a rock?_ It was about the size of a fist, orange, and not quite opaque.

"I-I think it's amber," Izuku stuttered in response to the unasked question. He glanced behind Link and raised an eyebrow. "Did you get the orb?"

Link nodded. "The sage was impressed with our problem-solving skills."

Izuku grinned, his cheeks turning a little red in what Link could only assume was embarrassment at the praise. "Well, it wasn't too difficult," the boy replied.

"No, it wasn't," Link agreed. "Now, let's get out of here. We've got two more shrines to visit, and I need to show you how to use that sword."

* * *

Finally got another chapter out. Thanks for your comments and thoughts, everyone. We will definitely be visiting some of the others later on, but for now we're going to focus on Izuku and Link. A big thanks to VoidedSoul and Gotsh0cks on Discord for their help with editing; they've given me some things to think about for upcoming chapters, and I'm excited to play around with them.

Speaking of next chapter, it might be about as long before that one is out. I've entered the final third of my college semester and I have _loads_ of papers that are coming due in the next couple of weeks. We'll see how everything goes. Until then, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and would love to hear your thoughts/ideas on how things might go.


	7. Chapter 7: Link Attacks!

Izuku blinked as they emerged back into the sunlit ruin. They hadn't been in the shrine all that long, but the rumbling in his stomach reminded him that they hadn't eaten since their early breakfast that morning. He quickly pulled a wad of leaves from his jacket pocket, and from the wad of leaves he extracted some of the leftover fish from that morning's breakfast. He took a bite and turned to Link, who was examining his tablet. "We have the first two shrines finished. Where next?"

"The first thing we're going to do is get out of these ruins," Link said, tucking the Sheikah Slate away. "The next thing we're going to do is sit down and talk."

Izuku swallowed a particularly large bit of fish. His friend's voice had taken on a serious tone that he wasn't sure how to interpret. "T-Talk? W-What about?"

Link must have heard his trepidation because the blond gave him a small smile. "Nothing to be concerned about. We just haven't really gotten to know much about each other, and while I may not remember much about my past," his smile twisted downward for a moment before flitting back again, "I do know that I like to have an understanding of my companions."

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. "That makes sense."

"We can start after we get out of here; I don't want to be interrupted by any more death lasers."

"How do we want to get out?" Izuku asked, eyeing the wall. "Back over the way we came?"

The warrior didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward and placed a summoned bomb at the foot of the pile of rocks that was blocking the entrance to the room. He quickly stepped back and motioned for Izuku to do the same before thumbing the button on his tablet.

_CRUUMPT!_

The two ducked as rock fragments from the pile flew past them and clattered against the inner walls of the shrine. Izuku coughed and peered through the clearing smoke and saw that, thankfully, the turret robot Link had damaged earlier hadn't reactivated. It seemed like he'd actually managed to kill the thing.

"Well, at least I won't have to jump over the wall again," Izuku laughed. His grin slipped a bit when Link walked out through the arch without responding. _I wonder what's bothering him?_

Izuku hurried to catch up, and the two quickly left the same way they had entered. As much as Izuku would love to explore the ruins a bit more, he was worried that there might be more nasty surprises like the first sentry, and from the guarded glances that Link tossed around, he was sure his friend felt the same.

The two walked uphill a bit before stopping under a tree at the top of the rise whose branches were laden with apples. Link plucked one and tossed it to Izuku before snagging one for himself. "Here, eat up. We haven't had too much variety in our diet recently, so this should help."

Izuku caught the apple and nearly choked in surprise when he bit into it. While it was sweet and apple-flavored as he had expected, it had also had an underlying tangy flavor that underlined the sweet crispness. He swallowed and grinned. It was really good. He looked up and saw Link watching him with an arched eyebrow. "You all right?" he asked. "It looked like you were about to be sick.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. The apple tastes a little different from those back home."

Link glanced down at his apple and back up at Izuku. "Well, I guess this is as good a time as any. Tell me about yourself. You're training to be a hero; what does that mean where you're from?" He took a bite of the fruit and narrowed his eyes, giving Izuku the distinct impression that he was being analyzed. It was... unnerving, to say the least, like having his inner thoughts laid open like a book. _Maybe that's what Kacchan means when he says I'm a nerd._

"W-well," he started, rubbing the back of his head, "back home, almost everybody has a power or ability of some kind. We call them Quirks. Some people have Quirks that let them do simple things, like float objects around. Others have more dangerous Quirks."

A look of understanding crossed Link's face. "That's what you meant when you said you hadn't used too much of Superpower. That's your Quirk?"

"Yeah, that's what it's called. Basically, I can channel an incredible amount of strength through my body, enough to create windstorms from the force." He thought back to his first disastrous attempt to use One for All and winced. "B-But I can't use it at full power without hurting myself. My body's not strong enough."

"That's something we can work on," Link said, patting his new sword. "Now, I imagine that having that many people with such a variety of special abilities means that there are those who abuse their privileges, right?"

He paused mid-bite, surprised. "Y-yeah, there are. How'd you know?"

"Because it makes sense. With that amount of power, I'm sure there are some who misuse their gifts. I assume, then, that that is what heroes do in your world?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Heroes protect the everyday civilians and fight villains."

Link arched an eyebrow. "Sounds like a worthy goal." He contemplated the remnants of his apple for a moment before tossing it aside. "You done?"

Izuku glanced down at his hands and realized that he had finished the apple and tossed the core away. Link nodded, reached up and snapped a pair of small branches from the tree, and started to walk out into the field. "Good. Come on."

_What?_ Izuku scrambled after Link, trying to figure out how that, of all places, was a good end for the conversation. "W-Was that everything you wanted to know?"

"Not even close." Link spun around and tossed one of the sticks at Izuku, causing the boy to stumble backwards in surprise as he tried to catch the stick. "Before you can walk, you have to learn to crawl. This field," he said, gesturing around him with his remaining branch, "is the domain you protect. And I have come to spoil it." He swiped at the ground with his branch, sending clods of dirt and grass spraying everywhere. "Oh, that was easy. You want to be a hero, Midoriya? Well, you seem like a good kid, but I don't know if you have what it takes. Defend yourself!"

_What is happening?_ Izuku gaped at Link as the man lunged at him with his branch, only barely twisting out of the way in time. "W-What are you doing, Link?"

The man didn't answer, instead lashing out again in a slashing motion.

_Thwack. _Izuku hastily got his branch up to try and deflect the attack and winced as the force of the blow sent shivers up his arm. Link didn't give him time to recover either, flowing quickly from one slash to another and constantly forcing him to give ground.

_Thwack... Thwack... Thwack... Swoosh..._

Izuku dodged away from the latest attack and scowled at the grim-faced warrior. _All right, to hell with this._ He dodged past the next attack and swung his branch at Link's side.

_Thwack... Thwunk..._

"Ooof." Izuku stumbled backward. Somehow, Link had managed to deflect his attack and use the moment to get a solid hit in. He gritted his teeth and attacked again.

_Thwack... Thwunk... Thwack... Thwunk!_

Izuku crashed to the ground, fighting back the blackness that tinged his vision. He looked back up at Link, who was just watching him, sword-branch at the ready. _So that's how he wants to play? Fine. Let's go Plus Ultra, then._

Izuku triggered Full Cowling, feeling the familiar surge of energy and strength race through his body. Feeling energized, he sprung back to his feet and lunged at Link, confident that the increase in his strength and speed would throw him off. He glanced up at Link's face just in time to catch the brief, cruel smile. _Oh no._

_Thwunk!_

The force of the blow drove the air from Izuku's lungs and sent him sprawling in the dirt. He definitely saw bits of black in his vision this time. He took a big gasp of air and started to get up, but froze when he felt something touch his neck.

"Dead."

Izuku felt the tip of the branch withdraw and heard it whirl over his head. He rolled over—no easy task, thanks to the big sword strapped to his back—and looked up at Link, who was watching him thoughtfully. "Are you done?" Izuku asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"For now."

"Then would you explain what the _hell_ that was about?"

Link's smile returned. "I needed to feel you out to know how to help you."

"What do you mean, how to help me?" Izuku demanded, though without as much force as before as he tried to process the entire chain of events. From what he'd learned about Link, he didn't seem to be the kind of person to just lash out at people or behave frivolously. Everything he did was practical or had a purpose. They'd been talking about Quirks and fighting, and he had said something about walking and crawling...

Link must have seen the realization cross his face. The man nodded and sat down beside Izuku. "That's right. I needed to know what your limits are in order to help you. Getting forced into an unexpected fight causes a lot of stress. I knew that if I kept pushing you, sooner or later you would use your Quirk, and I would see just what you could do."

"You couldn't have just asked me to use it?"

Link shook his head. "No. I wanted to see what you would automatically resort to in moments of stress."

Izuku waited for him to say more, but Link was silent, apparently lost in his thoughts. "And? What did you learn?"

The warrior shook his head. "That the claymore isn't the right weapon for you."

_What?_ "W-What do you mean?" Izuku asked, feeling his heart sink a little. He had been excited to learn and be helpful and actually had a weapon that seemed like it would be more practical for him.

"Think about it. Claymores—swords in general, actually, are meant for offense. Sure, you can defend with them, but at the end of the day, someone's going to get stabbed." Link pointed at Izuku. "_You_ are a defender. You like to plan and protect, only striking when you're good and ready—or when you're frustrated enough with your opponent. I'm only guessing here based on your reaction to the bokoblin's death, but I assume that normally you try to disable rather than kill. For someone like that, the sword isn't the right weapon."

Izuku frowned, thinking. In the past, he had more often than not been fighting defensively. When he had saved Kota, he had only fought when absolutely required. The same was true to an extent with his match against Todoroki, and he could see it applying to dozens of other training scenarios as well. "I-I think you're right," he sighed. "Shoot, I really wanted to be helpful in fights."

"And you will be." Izuku looked back at Link, who was smiling. "Just because the sword's not the best weapon for you doesn't mean you won't be helpful. I have a particular weapon or two in mind that I think might work well for you. We just need to find them."

He held up a finger, forestalling Izuku's comments. "The first option is to augment your natural fighting style. You're clearly a punchy guy, so something like brass knuckles or gauntlets could work well for you. The main downside to that is you have to get extremely close to your opponent in order to use them, and if that opponent is armed, then you have to put yourself in danger in order to get the hit in.

"The second option," he said, raising another finger, "is to teach you how to fight with a shield. This will give you the defense you need to keep you safe while still enabling you to get close enough to lash out with your other hand. We might even find a way to use your Quirk with it."

Link paused before laughing to himself. "The final option is to forego the knuckles entirely and try to help you learn how to fight with a pair of shields."

Izuku had the sudden mental image of himself fighting off a bokoblin with a pair of ramshackle shields like Link's and he couldn't help but grin as well. "I don't know how effective that would be."

"You would be surprised." Link stretched and stood, offering Izuku a hand, which he took. "In any case, we'll see what we can do to help you out, starting with this." As he spoke, he unslung the shield he had won and held it out to Izuku. "This should at least help you get close enough to use your Quirk."

Izuku stared at the shield. "B-But what about you? D-Don't you need something to defend yourself with?"

"Ideally? Yes, but I've much more skill with the sword than you do. I should be able to use that for now."

Izuku hesitated for another moment before taking the shield and sliding it on to his arm. "T-Thanks, I think." He hefted it around and, trying to get familiar with the weight. It wasn't bad, but the irregular shape of what he now realized was little more than tree bark with a handle made balancing the thing a bit more difficult. Still, he thought he would get used to it pretty quickly.

Link watched him quietly as he shifted it around, and once Izuku was finally comfortable, the warrior picked up his makeshift sword again. "All right, let's give you some practice. Follow my instructions and we'll get the basics drilled into your head. And don't be afraid to use your Quirk. I can take a hit." He grinned. "If you can land one on me."

Izuku smiled back and picked up his shield.

* * *

Hours later, the sun had started its descent above the two heroes, and Izuku couldn't help but groan. They had spent most of the time practicing, and the effort showed. Every muscle in his body ached from the strenuous activity that Link had put him through/ They had gone through stance exercises—who knew that there was a certain way you had to stand?—some basic foot stances, and recovery. They had sparred a bit toward the end; Izuku had managed to keep Link from hitting him most of the time, but a few had still gotten through, mostly whenever he had attacked. The blond had somehow managed to jump out of the way of every attack.

"Good job today," Link said from behind him.

He just grunted in response. The man didn't look like he had just spent the last few hours training at all, a fact that Izuku normally wouldn't care about but in this instance found irritating. Still, he had to admit that it had gone well. It was just the basics, but he already felt far better equipped to deal with any bokoblins that they ran into.

Thankfully, he didn't think he'd have to put those skills to the test today. He squinted up at the sun, trying to gauge what time it was. His best guess said that it was probably close to four or five in the afternoon, which didn't give them a whole lot of time to go after the next shrine. "Where do you think we should go, Link? I think it's too late to go shrine hunting, and I'll be honest, I don't know if I'd make it up the mountain, even if there is a pass somewhere nearby."

Link shaded his eyes and began looking around. "We should probably head back. There are monsters that roam around at night that I would rather not have to deal with right no—"

The warrior's sharp inhale caught Izuku's attention. "What is it?"

The only response was a pointed finger. Izuku rolled his eyes but refrained from saying anything, instead turning to look in the direction that Link was pointing. It took him a few moments, but he soon saw what Link had noticed.

Ahead of them, the hills surrounding the old ruins and Ja Baij's shrine leveled out into a lightly wooded field. A scattering of trees and what looked like the remnants of fences and walls stretched out to the far end of the plateau where the trees got a little bit thicker. Just on their side of the deeper tree line, a line of smoke trailed up and dispersed into the sky. _That wasn't there when we started training_.

"I think," Link said, startling him, "that we need to investigate that. It's not that far away; we can check it out and be back just after dark, I think."

"Umm." Izuku looked back and forth between Link and the smoke column. "D-Didn't you want to get back before dark? B-Because of monsters?"

"Originally, yes. That fire has me curious. It's not a bokoblin fire, so there has to be someone else up here."

The man watched for a few more moments before starting down the hill, leaving Izuku, once again, to scramble after him. "Some day," Izuku muttered, "I'll be the one walking off purposefully." More loudly, he asked, "How do you know it's not a bokoblin fire?"

"Bokoblins tend to make large fires to dance around, and they'll get wood from anywhere to do it," Link explained. "A lot of the time, that means green wood, which combined with the large nature of the fire makes the smoke much blacker. That smoke trail belongs to a campfire, and a small one at that."

_Well, I can't argue with that logic._ Izuku followed his friend through trees with white trunks. While they weren't very thick—Izuku thought he could wrap his arms around the largest he saw—there were many of them interspersed throughout the field. With their high branches and tree-top leaf tufts, they looked a lot like the aspen trees from back in Japan, a realization that made him feel a bit more at home with this strange world that he had found himself in.

_Tirwip._

Even the birds sounded similar to those back home, though he didn't doubt that there were a host of differences in their calls. Izuku spotted the song bird, a small dark blue poof, and smiled. If only Koda were here. _I should take some notes when I get a moment. Koda might appreciate the information._

_Tirwip._

The bird calls followed them through the widely spread trees, and Izuku could see Link relax the more he heard. He took that as a sign that they might be safe for the time being and relaxed himself. There were terrible monsters about, he knew, but for now, he would enjoy his trip.

Eventually, Izuku was able to make out a shape at the base of the pillar of smoke, a shape that slowly gained definition as they approached until, after circling a large rock, he was able to finally see it for what it was. An old hunting lodge lay nestled at the woods, ivy covering its walls and several of the large, tasty mushrooms growing at its base. More importantly, Izuku could smell roasting fish coming from the far side of the building, and his mouth immediately began to water. "Whatever that is, I want some."

"Agreed," said Link, who, Izuku realized, had also paused to appreciate the scent.

"Well, let's see if whoever's here will share some of their meal." Izuku didn't wait for Link's response, instead quickly hurrying through the woods and around the side of the building. The sight of familiar drooping blond hair stopped him short. "A-All Might? What are you doing here?"

The Number One Hero looked up from the fish he was roasting. "Young Midoriya! It looks like you found us all right. Why don't you and Young Link come and join us? We're just about done preparing dinner. All that's left are the fish."

Izuku stood stock still, trying to process the scene in front of him. All Might and Rhoam were somehow settled in front of the fire, roasting fish. Rhoam was preparing some kind of stew as well and seemed perfectly at home on the log resting in front of the house.

He heard a rustling sound and turned to see Link come up behind him. "Ah, I thought this might be the case," the blond said. "We're safe here?"

Rhoam nodded without taking his eyes off of the stew. "This is my lodge. I can camp for a few days, but eventually I have to come back here. I'm old, and my back and joints aren't quite what they once were. There's a bokoblin encampment in a small ravine back the way you came, but they have left me alone ever since their first raiding attempt went poorly."

Izuku couldn't help but be impressed. Rhoam must be much tougher than he appeared. Beside him, Link just nodded and replied, "I think I'll go investigate later tonight, when they're sleeping. You should come, too, Izuku."

"M-Me?" Izuku squeaked.

"Yes, you. You need more practice, which is why we'll hit the camp at night. It should give you a bit more practice. For now though, we'll enjoy the company of our companions."

With that, Link strolled over to the fire, where he picked up a stick and speared one of the fish to roast for himself.

Izuku hesitated for another moment before his rumbling belly urged him toward the fire and the food. He took the stick All Might offered him and took over roasting the last fish.

"When we're done here," Rhoam said, waving toward the shack, "there's a place for everyone to rest that isn't out in the open. It's not common, but we do get some storms that roll this way. Best to rest in doors. We can discuss your next move then."

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Wow, it's been a while since I've been able to get a chapter up. Good news, though; the semester's over and I don't have any university until January, so I've got much more time to devote to writing this. There's some exciting stuff coming up that I'm looking forward to showing off. Thanks a lot for your comments. I enjoy hearing what you guys thing and the ideas that you all have thrown out, and would love to hear more, if you've got them. Y'all are great. Stay safe, and see you all next time.


	8. Chapter 8: A Talk with a King

After dinner, Izuku followed Rhoam as the old man ushered them into his cabin. The first thing Izuku noticed was just how _old_ the cabin felt. The entire structure had been built to rest on a large weathered boulder that also served as most of the west wall. Moss grew on the stacked stones that formed the base and foundation of the structure, and the logs piled on top of them looked brittle and had shifted, forming small gaps that allowed breezes to blow through. A quiet flapping sound from overhead caught Izuku's attention, and a quick glance revealed that the roof wasn't much more than a weathered tarp of some kind stretched over some poles. Still, he reflected, it was shelter.

Rhoam paid no attention to the flapping and instead gestured for his three guests to seat themselves around the large table and rough chairs that, alongside a crude bed and a plank on top of a pile of stones that served as a counter, served as the sparse furnishing for the cottage. "Please, sit. We have some time before full dark, so you might as well be comfortable while you plan." He took his own advice and sat on his bed. "What do you intend to do now?"

Link moved over by the table, but didn't sit down, instead leaning over the table. "Well, we're going to take care of those bokoblins for you first. I'm amazed that they haven't attacked you already."

"They have tried, once or twice, but I've been able to scare them off one way or another. Still, it would be good to have them permanently removed." The old man paused for a moment, his features darkening. "I'm afraid that I may have some bad news for you two. My last encounter with bokoblins didn't go nearly so well as I would have liked, and my glider was damaged. I am working on repairing it, but it might take some time."

"That shouldn't be a problem. Once we k-kill the bokoblins, we can use this as a safe base of operations," Izuku said, stumbling over the still-prickly feelings of fighting for one's life. "While you fix it, Link and I can go visit the last two shrines, the ones in the mountains."

"Ah, yes, that reminds me." Rhoam got up and pulled a trunk out from under his bed, which he started rummaging in. "Let's see, where did I put those... Aha! Here we are." When the man stood and turned, he was holding what appeared to be several bundles of cloth held together by twine, which he handed to both Link and Izuku. "It's cold up on those mountains, so you'll want to wear these."

Curious, Izuku undid the binding and unrolled the bundle to reveal a long-sleeved shirt of some kind with a green woolen tunic and gloves. He ran his hands over the tunic and hefted it. '_This seems like it'll be warm.'_ Beside him, Link was holding a similar tunic-and-shirt bundle. The only difference that Izuku could see was that his new friend's tunic was dark blue with white highlights.

"These are two of my spare warm doublets," Rhoam explained. "They should keep you warm enough while up on the mountains."

Izuku turned the item over in his hands before looking up. "T-thank you," he said, feeling tears well up in his eyes at the old man's sudden kindness.

All Might, who had been quiet up until this point, spoke up. "Geez, kid, lay off the tears already. You're my successor, you can't be crying all the time." Izuku flushed and tried to stammer out a response, but All Might just waved it away. "You're doing fine. Anyway, what's the big rush to take out these creatures? Like Young Midoriya said, you two have time to wait while the glider is fixed."

Link shrugged. "I feel a sense of urgency. Something's going to happen, but I couldn't tell you what. Also, this will provide Izuku with an opportunity to try out the skills we practiced earlier today."

"Skills?" All Might turned back to his student. "Learn to use that big sword, did you?"

Izuku flushed. "N-no, not that. Link suggested that I focus more on defense; that way, I can protect myself while making openings to use One—Superpower."

Japan's Number One Hero stroked his chin. "That's not a bad idea, especially with the damage you sustained to your arms."

"Damage? What damage?" Link demanded, suddenly looking much more serious.

Izuku winced. With everything that had happened, he had completely forgotten about his most recent hospital trip. The doctor had made it very clear that he couldn't use his arms the way he had in the past, which made it all the more important that he figure out how to use the shield effectively. "I told you before, I can't use Superpower to its full potential yet; my body's not strong enough. Doing so can seriously hurt me. I had to use it at full power to save a kid from a villain, which seriously messed up my arms. The doctor said that I can only sustain that kind of damage a couple of more times before it might be permanent."

"Malice take us all, that would have been good to know beforehand," Link cursed. He ran a hand through his hair and his eyes focused on something off in the distance. "You should be fine with the bokoblins, especially the red and blue ones; they don't hit all that hard. We'll have to work out some techniques for fighting tougher monsters, though; one good hit from a Moblin's club is often enough to launch a man in armor."

Izuku wasn't quite sure what a Moblin was, but he was pretty sure that he didn't want to find out. "S-sorry, I should have said something sooner."

The group lapsed into silence. Izuku couldn't help but feel bad about not telling Link, even though he had only just remembered himself. He didn't know much about using weapons, but he imagined having past injuries made it more difficult. '_Maybe this is what Recovery Girl meant when she said that "bones aren't just a resource."'_

After a few moments, Izuku heard All Might shift in his chair. "Well, since you can't use it, why don't you leave that here?"

"That's a good idea," Rhoam said. "It will only weigh you down out there, and who knows? We may find a use for it here."

Izuku nodded and ducked outside to retrieve the claymore from where he had left it and his shield leaning against the log by the fireside. He sighed as he hefted the large sword; it was probably for the best, but he still couldn't help but be a bit sad that he wouldn't be learning how to use a sword. As he turned to go back in, he noticed a flickering orange glow off from the north-east, close to the path that he and Link and followed earlier that day.

'_That must be the bokoblins.'_ If they were that close, then there wasn't much time to lose. He hurried back inside, stopping just inside the door frame and setting the sword by the door. "Link those bokoblins are a lot closer than we thought."

"Why do you say that?"

"I can see their fire from outside."

Link picked up his gear and gestured for Izuku to follow before exiting. Izuku scurried after him, pausing only long enough to acknowledge All Might's admonition that they be careful and to snatch his shield.

The tall grass crunched under his feet as he followed Link through the trees toward the mountain's base. The orange glow got brighter as they approached, seemingly coming from over a low rise just ahead of them. As they started up the hill, Link waved for him to slow down and crouched down. Izuku mimicked him and found that the level of noise that he had been making was drastically reduced. '_That makes sense. Less spead and more precise movements would mean less noise from broken grass.' _He shook his head at the realization. He needed to consider things like this if he was going to survive.

He was so focused on trying to minimize his own noise output that he almost bumped into Link at the top of the rise. His apologies were cut short by the warrior, who just gestured for him to get even lower and then peered over the crest of the hill. Izuku followed his example, and what he saw made his heart drop.

A small encampment spread out below them. The source of the light Izuku had seen was a big bonfire in the center of the camp, over which the bokoblins were roasting some sort of meat. Several large crates surrounded the fire, though what they were there for, Izuku couldn't guess. As his eyes adjusted more, he saw the bokoblins themselves. There were only three of them around the fire, and they appeared to be just enjoying themselves, dancing around the fire and waiting for their meal to finish. Link nudged him and pointed; a little ways to their right, a lone bokoblin stood guard from atop a ramshackle watchtower. It would look in one direction for a little while before turning and looking in another direction.

The two observed the camp for a few moments before Link tugged on Izuku's shirt and started crawling back down the hill. Once at the bottom, he asked, "What did you notice?"

Izuku thought back over the scene. "I don't think they're expecting any trouble. The group by the fire didn't seem too worried about any attack, and they've only got the one sentry." He frowned. "That sentry looked pretty alert, though."

Link nodded. "Good. What else did you notice?"

Izuku hesitated. Was there something else worth noting? "There were crates around the fire?"

"Among other things, yes. More importantly, the firelight is casting some pretty long shadows that we can use to sneak up closer." Link unhooked his bow and strung it, bending it back slightly to test before nodding to himself. "Of course, that won't work if the sentry spots us. He'll alert the others, and who knows? Maybe there's another camp nearby that would respond to the alarm, and then we'd be in much more trouble."

"So I guess we need to take care of the sentry first." Izuku thought hard for a second. "Why don't I sneak up the hill a little closer to the camp, close to one of those shadows you mentioned? That way, you can deal with the sentry, and I can get in a position to h-hit the others."

In the darkness, Izuku couldn't see Link's face all that clearly, but he thought that the Hylian was weighing the options. "Why do you want to lead the charge here? You'll have to kill the bokoblins."

Izuku gulped. "B-because we have to do it anyway, and if I don't, Rhoam might be in trouble when we leave."

After what seemed like an eternity, Link nodded. "All right. Go in once you see the sentry go down." Before Izuku could respond, Link spun around and crept back up the hill. He watched the Hylian go for a moment before angling toward the camp. When he crested the hill, he examined the valley, noting the different shadows that Link had mentioned. '_He's right, they are pretty big.'_ He glanced over at the sentry and at the bokoblins by the fire to make sure they were looking elsewhere before sliding down the hill into the shadow.

'_I can't believe I'm doing this.'_ He crept over toward the crate, trying to make as little noise as possible while simultaneously keeping an eye on the sentry. Other than an occasional glance to one side or the other, the red creature continued to look up at the entrance to the valley. Izuku leaned forward, ready to sneak to the next crate, but froze when the sentry glanced to the side and perked up. It peered up at the hilltop where Link had gone before jumping in alarm and going for the horn at its side.

_Shnick!_

The monster's head snapped backward, the force of the unseen blow knocking it off its tower, where it collapsed in a motionless pile. Izuku swallowed heavily. '_I'm glad Link's on my side.'_

Now that the sentry had been taken care of, Izuku didn't have to worry about being spotted from behind. He quickly darted behind the next crate and peered around at the fire. The bokoblins hadn't taken any notice of their friend's demise and were still dancing around the fire. He took another big breath to try and calm his nerves before starting his distraction.

He scooped up a good-sized rock by his feet, stepped out from behind the crate, and hurled it at the monsters. It passed between the first two bokoblins and hit one of the poles supporting the roasting spit, knocking it over and sending it crashing into the flames. The nearest two monsters whirled around to face Izuku and snarled when they saw him, snatching up their weapons and launching themselves at him. He barely got his shield up as the first club came down on him.

_Thunk... Thunk..._

He ducked around the next blow, trying to keep both opponents in front of him.

_Thunk... Thunk... _

The monsters didn't seem to be terribly skilled. He blocked another blow and then saw an opening.

_Thunk... Whump!_

"Smash!"

The force of One for All sent the bokoblin crashing back into the crate, which shattered under the impact and collapsed. Izuku whirled around in time to see the other shrieking creature leap at him, its club swinging rushing toward him, and he raised his shield.

_Thunk... Whump!_

He smashed the second monster just as flat as the first. Its jump attack left it defenseless, and the attack itself had been easy to block. He saw the cloud of dark smoke leave the body and knew he didn't have to worry about that monster any more. Which left one more. He raised his shield and turned toward the fire, ready to intercept the next attack.

But it didn't come.

'_What?'_ Izuku looked around, trying to find his opponent. He finally located its body—blue, he realized—next to Link, who was sitting and watching Izuku. He nodded when he saw that Izuku had noticed him, and he could see the blond's satisfied smile in the firelight. "Good job. We'll make a warrior out of you yet."

Izuku smiled sheepishly before his eyes drifted back to the bokoblins he had killed. He shuddered; he wasn't sure if becoming a warrior was a good thing, but he had a sinking suspicion that he didn't have much of a choice.

* * *

The man known as All for One observed the land. Below him, large metallic spiders crawled over and through what must have once been a proud city and an even prouder castle. No longer, it appeared. The buildings were blackened and reduced to rubble in many places, and though the destruction must have been long ago, he could still sense small amounts of residual heat in some places, perhaps from the large machines' lasers. The castle itself remained largely intact, but was covered in a terrible sludge that seemed to glow with an almost unnatural light, even to his sightless eyes. He allowed himself a small smile; perhaps the Good Doctor would like a sample to use in his experiments.

Other than the spiders and creatures that Tomura and his friends had discovered in the castle proper, there was nothing living. No plants grew nor did animals roam for a distance from the castle grounds. If they did, then they were of a sort of life that was undetectable by infrared, and he was too far away to detect them through any other means.

The vibrations from behind him, however, he could sense, and judging from the frequency and weight, he could tell that Tomura had returned and was in one of his moods again. He didn't turn around, instead letting the young man approach. "What is it, Tomura?"

"We've cleared the rest of the creatures from the main areas of the castle, Master." The _scritch scritch_ of Tomura scratching his neck accompanied his statement. "Compress and Kurogiri have been examining the sac in the throne room, but it doesn't seem to pose us any threat."

All for One smiled. "And yet you seem troubled. What bothers you, Tomura?"

"We have been here for a week, and we still haven't seen any sign of All Might or the kid," Tomura rasped. "I don't like it. What if they're hiding somewhere, waiting for us to let our guard down?"

"I do not think that to be likely." All for One turned to face his protege. While his father's hand might obscure his features from his friends, it could not hide the young man's confusion and worship from the villain. "Let us consider things logically. Pay attention, Tomura, as this could be an important lesson.

"Consider our location: a ruin of a castle filled to the brim with evil power. You saw the creature appear and ride across the sky, yes? Then you know what I'm talking about." All for One tapped the worn stone wall. "Such a power would be utterly repugnant to a self-righteous hero like All Might. Whatever force brought us here must have used the concept of like objects attracting one another. We were brought here, to the seat of power, while All Might and your piece have been sent somewhere else."

The young man growled. "So we have to go hunt him down again?"

"That is certainly an option. However, heroes have a tendency to meddle. Eventually, they sense the power surrounding this castle and will be forced to investigate."

A dull, rumbling roar from outside prevented the supervillain from continuing. As he turned toward the sound, he could sense the dark energy of the place coalescing once again into the giant boar-like phantom that roamed across the sky above the castle. He watched it gallop through the air, and he felt Tomura move up beside him to observe, though he sensed boredom in the youth. He resisted the urge to sigh; the boy just didn't have much of a sense for the curious.

And what a curiosity this was. All for One tried to follow the trails of energy that led up toward the creature, no easy task, even for one such as himself. He couldn't see the strands and had no idea what it might physically look like. Instead, the infrared Quirk he had acquired years ago registered it, and he was able to trace the twisting red-black strands from the sky to several giant pillars that surrounded the ruins. '_But are the pillars the source, or do they merely channel the energy from somewhere else?'_

Eventually, the energy flows were interrupted again by a strange, radiating heat, the origin of which he still hadn't been able to locate. The creature dissipated with one final shriek, and then the night was silent, save for the mechanical grinding of gears from the distant war machines.

'_I must find the source of this power.'_ All for One turned his head slightly to address his pupil. "I will not tell you to stay here. You and your friends may stay or search for your new piece as you wish. Remember, Tomura: this is all for you, and you must learn to handle such setbacks with grace and cunning."

He smiled in satisfaction beneath his mask as he sensed Tomura's confusion harden into angry resolve. "We'll begin scouting the area, then. Maybe we'll find someone who can tell us a little more about what's going on."

"Excellent. I shall remain here; there are still several things I wish to investigate."

The man known as All for One listened as his heir went off to gather his friends before turning to look up toward the center of the castle, where a single pulse of the beast's energy had glimmered. "Oh yes, there are still a great many things that I wish to know about this place."

* * *

Link stepped up onto the raised ledge and looked around while Midoriya clambered up behind him. This shrine had been pretty straightforward, and he suspected that Keh Nanut had wanted it that way to test the perceptiveness of any potential guests. He and Midoriya had almost missed the alcove with the old spear, but he had to admit that they'd been distracted by the little robot and its death beams.

"It doesn't look like there's anything else here besides the monk," Midoriya said, also scanning the room. Link couldn't help but smile slightly. His companion had improved steadily over the past few days as they had fought their way through to the last two shrines, and had become adequately proficient in his new fighting style. He still had a ways to go, but so did they all.

Even though they had had to fight their way here, the path itself hadn't been too terribly difficult. Link looked back on the two shrines as he approached the monk's stasis chamber. Both had given his tablet a new ability—an App-ility, Midoriya had called it—and both had seemed more like a testing ground for him to learn the ins and outs of his new tools than actual challenges. Midoriya had been helpful during these as well, spotting things he hadn't and helping to clear obstacles. He had managed to heave the last giant orb out of the way during the last trial, which had cleared the path to Owa Daim, while commenting that it might have been possible to store energy in an object affected by Stasis. They had later been able to test this theory on a boulder they passed on a ridge and discovered that not only had he guessed correctly, but that any object treated like this could become a deadly missile. He suspected that Midoriya's insights would continue to be invaluable as they progressed toward... whatever it was that they were supposed to progress toward.

That was something to consider later, though. He reached up and tapped the energy field surrounding the old sage and watched it shatter and dissolve, exposing Keh Namut to the world. The old monk's voice echoed in his head, sounding no different from the other three he had encountered previously.

"Your resourcefulness in overcoming this trial speaks to the promise of a hero. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I bestow upon you this Spirit Orb."

The shimmering sphere appeared from inside the monk's chest and flew into Link's, and he once again felt the now-familiar warmth spread out from the point of contact until his whole body was warm and tingly. He looked back up at Keh Namut and thought he saw a small smile on the old monk's dissolving face as one final sentence echoed in his mind.

"May the Goddess smile upon you."

Link watched the monk dissolve. He didn't know why or how these people came to be in the shrines, but he felt that their passing was important. So he honored them the only way he could, and had vowed that he would put their gifts to good use. Once the last vestiges of the monk vanished, he turned toward Midoriya and gestured for them to leave.

Thankfully, the way back out wasn't nearly as convoluted as some of the other shrines had been. Midoriya held the gate open for Link before ducking beneath it himself, and the rest of the ice-like substance that the slate had created was still there, leading quickly to the elevator and the surface. As Link stepped out into the sunshine, he heard a voice calling them, followed promptly by Rhoam's descent by glider.

The old man dusted himself off and grinned at the two. "It seems that you've finally cleared the last shrine. With this, you have now acquired all of the Spirit Orbs on the Great Plateau. Extraordinary, oho ho!"

Rhoam's laughter seemed off to Link, and he frowned. "Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine. It just means that... it is time. Link, Midoriya, it is finally time to tell you everything. But not here; it isn't right." He smiled. "Meet me at the Temple of Time. There, I will reveal everything."

"Why can't you te—"

Midoriya's question turned into a cry of surprise as little blue balls of wispy firelight appeared around Rhoam, who just laughed again, this time in genuine mirth. "All will be explained. I will wait... for you... at... the Temple..."

Rhoam's body faded as he spoke until there was nothing but the little wisps of fire left, and those, too, quickly vanished. Link didn't say anything, trying to understand what exactly had happened. '_I'd heard of spirits before, but this is my first encounter with one. What in Hylia's name is happening?'_

Beside him, Midoriya seemed equally perplexed, his mouth moving as he murmured to himself. Link couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but he was pretty sure he was coming to terms with ghosts himself. That, or he thought Rhoam had a Quirk, which would also excite him. In either case, standing around wouldn't do them any good. Link grabbed Midoriya's shoulder and thumbed the Slate with his other hand, willing them to return to the Shrine of Resurrection.

A few moments later, they had reformed in the Shrine and hurried down the mountain. "What do you think he's been hiding from us?" Midoriya asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with why I was in that Shrine," Link said. "He might even know why your and All Might are here."

"Why wouldn't he just tell us, then?"

'_Good question.'_ Out loud, Link responded, "We'll find out."

The two followed the familiar path past their old campsite and up through the ruins of the temple's surrounding buildings and structures. As they were walking up the final flight of stairs, Midoriya looked up and made a quiet noise of surprise. "All Might, what are you doing here?"

Link looked up and followed Midoriya's gaze and saw a mountain of a man leaning against the entrance to the temple. He gulped; now he understood why the man had such a powerful name. The force of his voice only served to drive that point home.

"**Rhoam informed me that you would be here today, and that the time has come to fill you in."** All Might leaned down toward the two of them as they finally reached the top of the stairs, his smile shrinking a little. "**You're about to be entrusted with some serious information.** **You newbies think you're ready to take on this task?"**

"What're you talking about, All Might?" Midoriya asked, and Link nodded his desire to know the answer as well as his frustration grew. It seemed that All Might already knew everything and hadn't said anything either.

"**That's not my place to say. Rhoam will explain. Let's go."**

With that, the man Midoriya claimed was the best hero in his world turned and strode inside, leaving Link and Midoriya to catch up. The temple interior was just as ruined as beforehand, though Link immediately noticed two distinct differences. The first was that Rhoam was standing directly in front of the statue of Hylia, resting on his cane, and the second was that the statue was shimmering, lights flickering around it in a dazzling display.

Rhoam's laughter drew his attention back to the old man. As Link got closer, he saw that he was still surrounded by wisps of fire. "Well done, young ones. Now then, the time has come to show you who I truly am." The man straightened, and Link watched as the man's face seemed to change, becoming more proud—and sad. "In life, I was King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. I was... the last leader of Hyrule, a kingdom which no longer exists."

The man struck his staff on the ground as he finished speaking and was engulfed in a blinding light. Link winced and shielded his eyes and could see Midoriya doing the same. Once the light faded, Link looked back at Rhoam. His gasp and Midoriya's echoed through the broken room.

Rhoam had changed. No longer was he clad in his rugged tunic nor clutching his cane and lantern. His clothes hand changed into a magnificent blue coat and suit, his head now supporting a thin golden crown. His feet no longer touched the ground, and the few wisps that had surrounded him had greatly multiplied.

Rhoam smiled briefly at their surprise before growing serious, his eyes darkening. "The Great Calamity was merciless. It devastated everything in its path, lo, a century ago. It was then that my life was taken away from me, and since that time, here I have remained in spirit form.

"I did not think it wise to overwhelm you while your memory was still fragile, Link, or while I was unaware of your intentions, Midoriya." The former king drifted down the platform toward them, stopping a few feet away. "So rather than that, I thought it best to assume a temporary form. Forgive me. After your work these past few days, I think you are now ready to hear what happened a hundred years ago."

He gestured for them to sit and waited while they found seats. "This will be a lengthy explanation, so I ask that you try to hold your questions until after." The king took a deep breath. "To know Calamity Ganon's true form, one must know the story from an age long past. The demon king was born into this kingdom, but his transformation into Malice created the horror you see now. Stories of Ganon were passed from generation to generation in the form of legends and fairytales. But there was also... a prophecy. 'The signs of Calamity Ganon's resurrection are clear, and the power to oppose it lies dormant beneath the ground.'"

Rhoam shook his head, at what Link wasn't sure, before continuing. "We decided to heed the prophecy and began excavating large areas of land. It wasn't long before we discovered several ancient relics made by the hands of our distant ancestors. These relics, the Divine Beasts, were giant machines piloted by skilled warriors. We also found the Guardians, an army of mechanical soldiers who fought autonomously."

Link shuddered at the mention of the Guardians. His memory stirred, and he vaguely remembered screams and flashes of blue light. And fire. Lots of fire. When he looked back up, the old spirit was watching him. He nodded for the spirit to continue.

"This discovery coincided with ancient legends, oft repeated throughout our land. We also learned of a princess with a sacred power and her appointed knight, chosen by the sword that seals the darkness. It was they who sealed Ganon away using the power of these ancient relics.

"One hundred years ago, there was a princess set to inherit a sacred power and a skilled knight at her side. It was clear that we must follow our ancestors' path. We selected four skilled individuals from across Hyrule and tasked them with the duty of piloting the Divine Beasts. With the princess as their commander, we dubbed these pilots Champions—a name that would solidify their unique bond. Together, the princess, her appointed knight, and the Champions were on the brink of sealing away Ganon... but nay."

Rhoam shuddered, his wisps scattering across the room at his apparent discomfort. Eventually they stilled, and the dead king continued, his voice low. "Ganon was cunning, and he responded with a plan beyond our imagining. He appeared from deep below Hyrule CAstle, seized control of the Guardians and the Divine Beasts, and turned them against us."

The king's voice grew haunted, and he began speaking more rapidly. "The Champions lost their lives. Those residing in the castle as well. The appointed knight, gravely wounded, collapsed while defending the princess. And thus, the kingdom of Hyrule was devastated absolutely by Calamity Ganon. However, the princess survived to face Ganon alone."

Midoriya's gasp filled the sudden silence, and Link couldn't blame him. The entire ordeal sounded like a horrific nightmare, and yet his gut told him that it was absolutely true. The ghostly remnants of the king served as grisly proof of that.

Rhoam was silent for a few more moments, whether to let him and Midoriya come to terms with what they had been told or for some other reason, Link wasn't sure, before he continued, his voice lower than before. "That princess was my daughter, my dear Zelda. And the courageous knight who protected her right up to the very end—that knight was none other than you, Link."

'_What?' _Link shook his head, but not in denial. His lack of memories suddenly made far too much sense. Rhoam's continued speaking, and his words only confirmed Link's feelings.

"You fought valiantly when your fate took an unfortunate turn. And then, you were taken to the Shrine of Resurrection. Here you now stand, revitalized, one hundred years later. The words of guidance you have been hearing since your awakening are from Princess Zelda herself. Even now, as she works to restrain Ganon from within Hyrule Castle, she calls out for your help.

"However, my daughter's power will soon be exhausted. Once that happens, Ganon will freely regenerate himself and nothing will stop him from consuming our land." The king clenched his fists, and his voice broke as he continued. "Considering that I could not save my own kingdom, I have no right to ask this of you, Link... but I am powerless here..." He looked away, and when he looked back, his eyes appeared to be watering. "You must save her—my daughter, and do whatever it takes to annihilate Ganon."

Link nodded, his feeling his resolve stiffening. "Absolutely, your Majesty."

Rhoam smiled slightly before turning to face Midoriya and All Might, who, Link realized, had been standing behind Midoriya the entire time instead of sitting. "I also have no right to ask for your aid, but I will anyway. It isn't clear to me how you came here, but odder things have happened. I believe that some force—call it the Goddess, fate, destiny, whatever you will—brought you here. As the last king of Hyrule and as father... concerned for his daughter's safety, will you aid Link, Hyrule's last Champion, in this task?"

Midoriya looked up at All Might, who just looked back at him. "**What do you think, Young Midoriya?"**

The boy took a deep breath and rested his head in his hand, clearly thinking hard. "Heroes are supposed to help those in need and meddle in things that aren't their business. What kind of heroes would we be if we refused to answer a call for help? Especially from something that is as evil as this?" He looked back up at the giant of a man. "I say we go for it."

"**I thought you might say that, and I must say that I agree with you."** All Might turned to face Link. "**We'll be there to support you along the way, Young Link."**

He smiled. "Thank you, both of you. Now," he said, turning back to the king, "I have a feeling you have a bit more to tell us."

Rhoam nodded. "Somehow, Ganon has maintained control over all four Divine Beasts, as well as those Guardians swarming around Hyrule Castle. I believe it would be quite reckless for you to head directly to the castle at this point, your powerful allies notwithstanding." He drifted toward the open wall and gestured for the group to follow. "I suggest that you make your way east, out to one of the villages in the wilderness.

"Follow the road out to Kakariko Village," he said, pointing. Izuku followed his finger and saw two distant peaks that jutted up into the sky. "There you will find the elder Impa; she will tell you more about the path that lies ahead. Consult the map on your Sheikah Slate for the precise location of Kakariko Village. Make your way past the twin summits of the Dueling Peaks; from there, follow the road as it proceeds north."

Link nodded again, but realized there was a slight problem with that plan. "How do we get off the Plateau?"

The group fell silent as each considered this question. "Couldn't you get us down, All Might?" Midoriya asked first, looking up at his mentor.

All Might shook his head. "**I have the strength to, but landing such a large leap while carrying two people would prove tricky and could result in an injury we don't need. I also don't know when my strength will run out, and would rather save it for when we truly need it. Manifesting myself in this form isn't too tiring, but anything more would require a greater use of power."**

"I only have the one glider, which I will give to you, as we agreed on." the old king paused, thinking. "There is a way off the Plateau, but opening it will cost me the rest of my energy, and I won't be able to manifest myself for a time."

"If you could, uh, your majesty, that would be great," Izuku said.

"Then take this, as agreed." Rhoam handed the glider over to Link and began to concentrate. For a moment nothing happened, but the ground quickly began to rumble, shaking to and fro for a moment before coming to an abrupt halt. Link could hear a distant roaring, but wasn't quite sure what it was.

Rhoam opened his eyes and groaned. "It is done. You'll find a path down between the tower and Oman Au's Shrine." The wisps around him flickered before winking out of one by one existence. "I go to rest now. You must... save... Hyrule..."

The old man faded away, leaving the three alone. Link just looked at where the old man had been before sighing and stashing the glider away. "Well, that was more than a bit of information. I remember seeing some ruins down at the base of the Plateau; why don't we camp there for the night?

As the other two voiced their assent, Link looked back at the goddess statue, which was still glowing. He frowned and approached the statue. The glowing stopped as he approached, turning instead into what looked to him like a radiant burst of sunshine.

"_You who have conquered the shrines and claimed their Spirit orbs, I can offer you great power. In exchange for four Spirit Orbs, I will amplify your being with either health or strength. Tell me; what do you desire?"_

Link blinked, taken aback by the warm, feminine voice. She was clearly speaking to him and only him, as neither of the other two gave any indication that they saw or heard anything out of the ordinary. "Um, health?"

"_I will grant the power you seek. Go, and bring peace to Hyrule."_

Link felt a fiery warmth rush through him, somehow calming in its fury. As it faded, Link felt revitalized, better than he had since he had stepped out of the Shrine of Resurrection. He didn't know exactly what had happened, but he had no doubt that he had been blessed.

When he turned around, he saw that his companions had already left. He found them waiting outside and fell in step with him as he exited the building. The two were busy discussing some aspect of their hero society, and while he would normally be happy to join in, he just wanted to think for now.

What had happened all those years ago? How had he ended up as a chosen knight, or as a hero? It did explain why he remembered how to use weapons and basic survival skills, but it frustrated him nonetheless. And to have the fate of the kingdom thrust on him? He didn't like it. Oh, he would save the kingdom—there was no other choice. He sighed; the world had become much more challenging. '_Yeah, well, what else is new?'_ He shook his head and decided to deal with it later. For now, they needed to get off the Plateau.

He followed the path down from the temple, past the old fountain and out onto the plain. When he got there, he instantly saw what the king had meant. Where before there had been a small lake between the tower and the shrine, there was now a pit. He waved for the other two to follow him and approached cautiously. If remembered correctly, there had been a bokoblin encampment somewhere around here.

He needn't have bothered. He spotted the camp while still approaching, but it looked abandoned. Whatever Rhoam had done had clearly scared off whatever had been around here. '_That begs the question of what, exactly, he did.'_ Link approached the pit and saw that it wasn't really a pit at all. A large archway at the base of the Plateau's wall had been cleared, which had allowed the water to flow away and in turn revealed a slope leading from the plain to the archway.

Midoriya whistled. "I didn't know that ghosts could clear dams."

"**The world is full of mysteries, Young Midoriya. Our presence here should remind us of that."** All Might clapped Link and Midoriya on the back, knocking both of them forward and the wind from Link's lungs. "**Now, let's say we get this adventure started!"**

Link took a few deep breaths before chuckling. "Yeah, I guess we should."

* * *

**Authors Notes:**

Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed the chapter; it's a bit of a long one, haha.

Someone mentioned that it felt like it was taking forever for the gang to get off the Great Plateau, which I thought was a valid point. That, combined with the fact that I've been excited to write Rhoam's reveal and explanation for a while, meant that the last two shrines are kind of glazed over, and that might be for the best, as they're not terribly interesting shrines. So now they're off the Plateau and we can move forward!

As always, I would love to hear what you guys think. I do take things into account, haha, and there are some things that I definitely want y'all's input on. I still don't know what order Imma have the group go do the Divine Beasts, for example, so your ideas for that would be fun.

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Next chapter might be a bit, as this one's longer and I FINALLY got my Switch working again, so there are ample distractions. Stay safe, and I'll see you next time!


	9. Chapter 9: Advent of the Yiga

Kohga yelped and dropped to the floor. Behind him, the metal boulder he had summoned crashed to the ground before rolling slowly over the edge of the cliff. He didn't pay any attention to the boulder's progress as it tumbled down the pit; he had much more important things to worry about.

He closed his eyes and tried to recall the sensation of dread he'd felt, that feeling of looming failure. He'd been meditating, trying to summon and control bigger and more dangerous boulders. It had been going quite well, too; the boulder he'd just lost had been one of the largest yet. He had just started to manipulate it when... what? What was it?

He scratched at his mask for a moment before removing it and turning it over to stare at the Yiga's symbol. The sensation had something to do with it, he was positive. He frowned. '_Wait, what if...'_ Hesitantly, he turned the mask upside down, inverting the Yiga symbol of power into that of the hated Sheikah. He traced the eye, marveling at the graceful curves of the lines, before touching the center of the eye itself. As he tapped the painted pupil, the vision came to him.

Quite suddenly, he found himself standing on a high cliff overlooking what he instantly recognized as Hyrule field. The ruins of the old guard outpost spread out beneath him, crumbling and housing the occasional moblin or bokoblin. In the distance, he could see Hyrule Castle surrounded by a miasma of Malice. He grinned; Calamity Ganon was still alive and well.

His grin quickly faded as he realized that Ganon's good health couldn't be why he was being shown this vision. His eyes darted around as he tried to spot the objective, but there was nothing below him—at least, naught but monsters and ruins. He turned to examine the other side of the wall and nearly tumbled from the high ramparts in shock.

Rising far above the Great Plateau—for surely this was the birthplace of Hyrule, he realized—was a magnificent golden tower that glowed with an inner blue light. '_But... that's one of the ancient Guidance Towers! That must mean—'_

His thoughts were interrupted by a slight tremor that quickly grew into a great earthshaking quake. He fought to keep his balance, but just as quickly as it started, it seemed to stop, the sound of the quake replaced by a rushing roar that seemed to come from the stones beneath him. He looked back over the ledge behind him and watched as the lake at the base of the Guidance Tower emptied out into Hyrule Field below, flooding the lowlands and ruins.

Scratching his head, he turned his attention back to the Guidance Tower. It looked like it had been activated already, judging from the brilliant blue of the ancient light. He had been informed of the tower near the Yiga base, but he hadn't thought much of it. Clearly, it was more important than he had first thought.

He felt his eyesight begin to darken, and he relaxed and invited it to show him the rest of the vision. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing down in the ruins, looking back up toward the Plateau. Kohga glanced around. Clearly, whatever the vision was trying to tell him was around here somewhere. He wished that the ancestral visions were a little more reliable, but they had some uses.

_Click click click..._

The sound of boots against the ancient stone road echoed through the ruins and drew Kohga's attention back towards the Plateau. He squinted, trying to get a glimpse of whoever it might be. It could just be monsters, or some Hylian travellers; the fools were constantly running around, looking for danger. He chuckled, imagining what might happen if a group of travellers ran into a wandering monster or two. Ah, that would be glorious.

Eventually, the source of the sound came into view, and at first, Kohga was disappointed that his little daydream wasn't reality. As the figures came closer, he couldn't help but frown as he began to pick out details, as it was, the oddest travelling group he'd ever seen by far.

The figure that stuck out the most was the boy with the green hair. Kohga had never seen anyone with hair that color, and the fact that the boy's clothes all seemed to be green suggested that it was kind of his thing. Slightly in front of him was what Kohga could only describe as a blond skeleton. Even from this distance, he could see that the man's eyes blazed blue from beneath his long hair, and he seemed to struggle under the weight of the large sword strapped to his back.

By far the most normal of the three was the one that Kohga instantly recognized as a Hylian, though one that seemed almost to be a cross between the other two. He was dressed similarly to the green boy, and his blond hair wasn't quite as long as the skeleton's. Of the three, he seemed the most alert, constantly looking around while talking to his companions.

Kohga settled back and watched as the three continued to approach. So this is what the vision wanted to show him. What could these three represent? He was pretty sure that they were real; there were too many details for them to be otherwise. What could Ganon be trying to show him?

As the group drew level with him, he examined them a bit more closely. They weren't particularly well armed, and up close the skeleton seemed even more gaunt, nothing but skin on bones. He was about to dismiss the group entirely when a shimmering blue light on the Hylian's hip caught his eye. He squinted at it, trying to get a closer look—and gasped when he saw the Sheikah symbol appear in the middle of the small, dark rectangle.

As soon as the symbol appeared, the vision faded, and Kohga was once again in the Clan's gathering chambers. He didn't pay much attention to his surroundings; he had other things to worry about.

'_Could it be true? Was that young man the Hylian Champion, Link? Or could it possibly have been the old man, the skeleton?'_ He considered the facts; both of them had been blond and seemed familiar with fighting. The one had been carrying the Sheikah Slate, true, but maybe he had just been holding on to it for the other. Link had been placed in the Shrine of Resurrection a hundred years ago, and while Kohga knew that it healed wounds, he didn't know if it prevented aging.

Making up his mind, he looked toward the entrance to his room. "Cin! Come here, quickly!" he shouted.

The thin, weaselly man who served as his second-in-command appeared in the entryway in a puff of smoke. "You called, Master?" he asked, his deep baritone reverberating off of the walls in the special way that Kohga hated because his voice didn't.

"Yes. Gather the clan; the Hylian Champion has awoken."

* * *

The early afternoon sun filtered down into the canyon carved between the two mountains, providing Izuku some light to see as they continued along the river road to the east. This marked the trio's third day of travel since they had left the Great Plateau, and the more Izuku saw, the more concerned he grew.

They had passed through ruins of what had seemed to be some sort of military outpost, crumbling fortifications and broken barracks littered with remnants of broken or rusted weapons and, occasionally, the skeletons of those who had died defending the place. Izuku shuddered, glad to be out of the ruins.

They'd finally met someone else when they had camped for the night next to one of the old shrines. The man had been surprised to see the three of them coming from the Plateau and had explained that after the towers had popped up all over the place, he had taken it upon himself to watch the broken-down Guardian in the river in case it decided to come to life. He had been a little panicky, but had ultimately told them that they were travelling in the right direction.

That had been two days ago. They'd made pretty good time today, ever since they left the bokoblin camp they had stayed at the night before, but they had had to stop and fight a couple of times as they progressed through the canyon, which had slowed them down. Now, Izuku just wanted to get wherever it was they were going.

"Hey Link, how far does the map say until Kakariko?" he asked.

Link quietly pulled out his Sheikah Slate and studied the map for a minute. "Based on the distance we've already travelled, I think we'll be there this evening."

Izuku sighed—and then chuckled to himself. It made sense that travel would take longer in a low-tech society, and while they could teleport with the Slate, they weren't sure how many could be transported, and they could only go to places that had been activated. That meant they had to explore on foot first, which he supposed wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It certainly gave him a better idea of what to expect.

To keep his mind occupied, he'd taken to writing notes about the different monsters they encountered as they travelled. Thankfully, he had an almost completely blank notebook with him, along with his current _Hero Analysis for the Future_, so he'd been able to utilize that, calling it _Monster Analysis for the Present_. So far, the first few pages were full of all sorts of diagrams and notes on bokoblins, as they appeared to be the vast majority of the monsters they'd encountered. He'd have to start a section on Lizalfos, though; they'd encountered a few earlier that morning, and he'd found them fascinating, if terrifying.

Thankfully, it looked like he might get a chance to soon. The canyon opened up ahead of the group, and Izuku saw what he thought might be a bridge crossing to the north side of the river. That might be as good a spot as any to stop for a meal before they continued to Kakariko.

As they got closer, he realized that it was a bridge, one that looked much better maintained than Proxim Bridge had. He pointed it out to Link, who peered at it. "I think you're right."

"That probably means that we'll find some of your people, Young Link," All Might said from behind the two. Izuku turned his head to see his mentor frowning in thought. "I can't say that I've noticed these monsters we've encountered constructing more than rudimentary structures, like their watch towers. It seems unlikely that they would maintain something as sophisticated as an old bridge"

"Their settlements are all like that," Link said offhandedly without turning.

'_Monsters have settlements?' _Izuku mentally filed that information away to add to his notes that night. Aloud, he said, "If the bridge is being maintained, then whoever's doing so must live nearby."

"We'll see."

The three continued on, and after a few minutes, the group rounded a final twist in the canyon and followed the river into an open valley surrounded on all sides by mountains. The river continued into the valley a bit before it veered off to the south, forking and vanishing into a forest. The road they were on forked as well, with the main, more traveled route going north over the bridge.

Izuku took all of this in in a glance before his attention was captured by something else. Sitting a little ways from the northern bank of the river was a small cluster of buildings. While most of the half dozen or so buildings appeared to be houses, two stood out. The first was one of the ancient shrines, surrounded by a barricade of briars, its inactive orange lights reflecting off of the water. The other building, and the one that Izuku was constantly drawn back to, was far stranger. The main structure didn't appear to be all that impressive, just a long, low building covered in tarps and canvas. Jutting out above that structure, however, was what Izuku immediately recognized as supposed to be a horse's head made from the same materials. Occasionally a breeze would stir one of the tarps on the horse's neck, revealing hollow wooden frames beneath. Izuku could see people walking in between the buildings, children playing and adults working.

"It's probably a stable," Link said suddenly, answering Izuku's unspoken question. "We should be able to get information there, maybe get some horses."

Izuku winced. "I-I don't think that's such a good idea. T-the horses, that is."

"Why not? They're faster than walking."

"I-I can't ride a horse."

Link swung around and looked at Izuku, eyes wide. "You can't ride? But you're peacekeepers, heroes; how are you supposed to defend those in need?"

All Might laughed. "Where we're from, Young Link, we don't use horses for travel at all anymore. We use machines to get around, and some heroes have abilities that allow them to travel quickly."

Link stared at All Might, wide-eyed. Izuku couldn't imagine what that revelation meant to him, so he tried something else. "I-I think that the people who made the Sheikah Slate must have traveled in similar ways," he said, gesturing toward the tablet. "We were able to teleport, right? They probably had other ways of travel as well."

Link's gaze shifted to Izuku, and after a minute, he swallowed and nodded. "I—You're probably right. It's just—it seems so unnatural."

"Perhaps it is, Young Link," All Might said quietly, placing a hand on the younger blond's shoulder. "If your people are anything like you, then they are deeply in touch with the natural world. I fear that our people have long since lost that."

The group fell silent, and Izuku couldn't help but think that All Might was probably right. They had heroes who worked with the environment, but everyday people didn't care as much. He frowned; Dagobah Beach was probably a good example of that. It had become a common dumping ground for trash and refuse until he and All Might had cleaned it up. He didn't doubt that there were many other places on Earth that had been treated the same way.

All Might's coughing caught Izuku's attention, and he looked up at his mentor. The Symbol of Peace smiled and gestured. "I think that we're all a little tired. Let's go visit this outpost and see if they can aid us in our journey."

He slipped past Izuku and Link, and after a moment, Izuku tugged on Link's tunic and hurried to catch up with his mentor, and he heard Link following a few seconds later. He sighed. Every story he'd ever read or heard of where the hero introduced technology to a primitive society always seemed to break the brains of the inhabitants a bit. Clearly, that wasn't just an exaggeration.

Link's quiet chuckle informed Izuku that he had been muttering again, and he couldn't help but blush a little. "S-Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Don't worry," Link said, grinning crookedly. "My brain isn't broken. I just forget that we come from very different worlds sometimes." His smile shrunk, and he continued, sounding more like his usual self. "While you're here, though, we should teach you how to ride. Hyrule's a big place, and you don't really want to walk the entire way if you can avoid it."

'_I guess that's a fair point.'_ Izuku still wasn't excited to try riding.

Ahead of the group, Izuku saw a couple of kids playing in the street outside of one of the houses. One of them looked up and saw the group approaching before scrambling off toward the horse building. The other ran inside the house, and a few moments later a woman wearing a plain dress and apron and holding a soapy pan stepped out and looked down the road toward them. Izuku smiled and waved, and after a few moments, she waved back before disappearing back inside the house.

As they drew level with the house, the woman reappeared, this time without the pan. "Well, travelers! What brings you to The Dueling Peaks?" she asked, drying her hands on her apron.

"We're on our way to Kakariko Village," All Might said, gesturing back at Link. "My young friend here is on his way to meet a friend of his, and we're just going for the sights. The trouble is, we're not quite sure if we're headed the right direction, or how far it is from here, and she's been waiting for a while."

"Oh, a Sheikah friend? Well, I'm sure your friend can't wait to see you, young man," the woman laughed.

Izuku instantly liked her. He wasn't sure if it was just her friendly manner or because she looked vaguely like a thinner, brunette version of his mother, but whatever the reason, he felt drawn to her. '_I should try and draw her later to show Mom when I get home.'_

The memories of his mother and home assaulted him, and he turned away and pretended to study the mountain, trying to keep his sudden onslaught of tears from gushing out of him. The last thing he and the others needed was someone asking questions about how he was able to create rivers with his tears. When he felt he had managed to compose himself, he brushed his cheeks clear and turned back around to face the others.

"...at the stable can help point you all in the right direction," the woman was saying to All Might, pointing toward the building.

"My thanks to you, Miss Imeil," All Might said, bowing slightly to the woman. "We'll ask there and see if they can help."

The woman—Imeil, Izuku realized—smiled. "Happy to help. You boys travel safely, ya hear? Plenty of bokoblins about to keep a body worried."

"We'll be careful, ma'am," Link said, voice oddly hitched. Izuku glanced at him and was surprised to see that the blond was blushing slightly. '_What did I miss while I was dealing with emotions?'_

The three waved their goodbyes and left Imeil in the doorway of her house. After they had gone a few feet, Link spoke up again. "Could you two find out where we're going, and possibly get some horses for us? I'm going to go take care of that shrine."

Izuku looked at All Might to see what he thought. The pro was staring intently at Link. "Are you sure?"

Link nodded. "I am. I can't say why, but I think these shrines will immensely help in our quest, especially as each of the monks has addressed me as if they know who I am."

"Especially if they all have those orb things," Izuku chimed in.

"Yes. I'm doing this for those specifically."

Finally, All Might nodded. "Do what you think is right. We'll get the information we need and wait for you at the stable."

The blond nodded again before jogging toward the ancient structure at the base of the cliff. Izuku watched him for a moment before turning around and following All Might. While he was worried about Link, he knew the warrior could take care of himself.

As they approached the stable, it quickly became apparent that this was the center of activity for the small settlement. People bustled in and out of the open doorways leading into the structure. A few stablehands—or at least, Izuku assumed they were stablehands, as they all had the same beige-and-blue uniform and hat—were tending to a few horses that were stalled just outside of the stable, and a little ways off, Izuku could see a man with a giant, oddly-shaped backpack hawking wares to those passing him.

To complete the oddity of the structure, a counter was located in between the open entryways. A man whose hat appeared to be taller and pointier than the other workers was leaning over the counter and talking to a short woman. Izuku felt All Might's hand on his shoulder and looked up at his mentor. "W-what is it, All Might?"

"I think we should split up a bit and try to gather the information we need. Stay in the vicinity of the stable, but try and talk to people, see what you can learn. We're in a strange world, one that we still don't know much about."

Izuku nodded. "I-I think I can do that."

"Good. Stay close, but I'm not too worried about trouble; they seem to be good people."

The two waited until the man behind the counter finished talking to the woman before they approached. "Ah, travelers! Welcome to the Dueling Peaks Stable," he said, gesturing expansively. "How can I help you?"

All Might waved a hand at Izuku. "My young friend and I are traveling to Kakariko with another companion. The problem is, we don't quite know the way from here. Is it close?"

"Close? Why, it's just up the mountain! But you'll be wanting horses for such a journey, yes?"

"We had thought about it, but we have no money..."

Izuku quietly slipped away as All Might and the man began to discuss horses and prices. The Number One Hero didn't need his help with that, and besides, he had his own job to do. He poked his head into the building proper and saw that it was just one large room with beds along one wall and tables and chairs lined up along the other. '_Must double as a hotel or inn,'_ Izuku thought. In one corner of the room, if an oval room can have corners, he saw two men leaning over a table, gesturing wildly and speaking in low voices. While he was curious, Izuku didn't want to eavesdrop, and so left them to their own devices.

Back outside, he looked back around the small cluster of buildings and frowned. Something about them seemed... odd, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. He was about to turn around when the realization hit him. Other than the stable, the buildings were all cube-shaped, like apartment buildings back home. He hadn't noticed before because he was so used to the shape.

'_That seems a bit weird for a medieval world.'_ He looked around, looking for someone he could ask, and quickly located someone sitting at a desk with a pad of paper and a quill. Izuku knew from experience that such people weren't as busy as they might appear, so he approached the man, stopping in front of him. "Excuse me, sir?"

The man looked up and blinked a few times before rubbings his eyes and smoothing his mustache. "Hmm, what? Sorry, did you say something?"

Izuku winced internally; apparently, the man had been involved in something important. "I'm sorry for interrupting you, sir, but I was just wondering about those buildings. I haven't seen anything like them around here."

The man frowned and turned to face the town. Izuku got the impression that he was trying to get his squinty eyes to focus. "The cube ones? I believe they are the product of a group based in Hateno. Bolson Construction, or something like that." He turned and pointed to the east. "If you follow the road, it'll take you up through Hateno Garrison and up to the village. Bit of a walk, though. You might want to talk to Tasseren about a horse."

"I think my mentor's doing that right now." Something on the man's paper caught Izuku's attention, but he couldn't quite see it. His curiosity got the better of him. "Sorry, this might be more personal, but what are you working on?"

The man turned around and followed Izuku's gaze. His face lit up in a way that Izuku was pretty sure he himself did when talking about heroes. "Oh, this? This is my research on the blood moon. I've always been curious about the sky, so I finally sat down one day and started writing out my thoughts and findings."

'_Blood moon? That sounds like it could be interesting.'_ "What's a blood moon?"

The man's eyes widened, enough that Izuku could actually see them. "You don't know what a blood moon is? Well, go ahead and sit down and let me show you."

Izuku accepted the man's invitation and slid into the seat across from him. The man spun his pad around and grinned. "You seem like a smart kid—sorry, what'd you say your name was?"

"Uh, I hadn't. I'm Midoriya Izuku."

"Ah, my mistake. Well, Midoriya, I'm Hino, and I have been told that I have an obsession with the moon." As he spoke, Hino spun his notebook around, revealing to Izuku what he had been looking at before.

On the page were several detailed sketches of the moon in its several phases. Lines crisscrossed the page, connecting the different diagrams to note blocks, and Izuku thought he saw a couple disappear off of the page. It definitely reminded him of one of his sketchbooks.

"Recently, I've started researching blood moons," he said, gesturing at one of the diagrams. "On certain unlucky nights, the moon turns blood red as it reaches its zenith. When it does, monsters all across the land return to life and resume their activities as if they had never been interrupted."

"Th-they come back to life?" Izuku asked, feeling the blood drain from his face."

Hino nodded solemnly. "Yes, they return to life. It doesn't matter how many times they're killed or how destroyed their bodies are. The red moon knits them back together with Malice and darkness, unleashing them upon the land once more."

Izuku sat back, reeling from the revelations. His mind flashed back to the bokoblins he had killed on the Plateau. Even though almost two weeks had passed since his first encounter with the goblin-like creatures, he still felt guilty, and occasionally had nightmares about the creature's death.

If the creatures did, in fact, come back to life, then that might change everything. Death was only a minor inconvenience for these monsters, and it kind of sounded like they were some kind of spirit made flesh, which then of course it would make sense that they would need to be defeated repeatedly, as otherwise they would—

Something poked his shoulder. "Um, kid, you okay?"

Izuku looked up and saw that Hino was looking at him with concern. "Was I talking out loud again?" When he nodded, Izuku rubbed the back of his head and said, "S-sorry, it's a habit that I've been trying to break."

The man nodded again. "We've all got one of those. Anyway, that's about all that's known about the blood moon. It's been going on for years and years now, so no one really pays it much attention anymore. That's why I've started researching it, so that more people can be made aware of its effects."

"I guess that makes sense," Izuku said. He watched as Hino began fiddling with his book again and decided that he had gotten all that he could out of the man. He needed some more time to process what he had learned, anyway. "I think my mentor's looking for me, so I should probably go. Thank you for sharing your research with me; it was really interesting."

"May the moon watch over you," the man mumbled, his eyes glazed over. Izuku just shook his head and walked away. He did stop and briefly talk with one or two more people on his way back, but they weren't able to tell him much more than where Kakariko Town—apparently it had grown in the past hundred years—and Hateno were and about how long it took to travel to either. Without gaining much more information than that, he went back to All Might, who he found inside the stable/inn, waiting at one of the tables.

"Ah, there you are, Young Midoriya," All Might said as Izuku approached. "What did you find out?"

"Not a whole lot. I did find out something interesting about the moon, though..." Izuku rehearsed his conversation with Hino to All Might, explaining what he had learned about the blood moon and the revival of monsters. "...And honestly, I think I feel a bit better about the entire thing now."

His mentor scratched his head. "That's interesting. It's kind of like the old legends about Yokai."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too!" Izuku said. His grin faded a bit when he saw that All Might still looked concerned. "Um, what's the matter, All Might? Did you find out something bad?"

The blond shook his head. "No. Kakariko's about a half day's walk up the mountain from here, so we could get there late tonight. Sooner, if we had horses, though from what it sounds like, we'd need to catch our own, which shouldn't be too much of a problem. I've a sneaking suspicion that Young Link has some knowledge about the subject.

"No, what I was thinking about is that with something like these blood moons resurrecting monsters, I'm surprised that we haven't seen any more than we have. They've had a hundred years to breed, and they can't be killed permanently. Where are the rest?"

Izuku thought about it, and he couldn't help but grow more confused. '_He's got a point. We really should have encountered more monsters. Instead, there were just small groups of them here and there.'_ Another thought struck him, and he looked back at his mentor and lowered his voice. "If they've had that long to grow without military resistance, the Hylians should probably have been overrun by now. Most of those we've met haven't seen too militaristic."

All Might's eyes seemed to sink deeper into the dark recesses of his face. "You're right. We still don't know enough. Perhaps someone in one of these towns can tell us more." He sighed quietly before chuckling. "Still, there's not much we can do about it at this point. We're still waiting on Young Link, after all. No use discussing all this without him."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

The two lapsed into silence for a moment before All Might stood up. "Well, Young Midoriya, while we wait, let's see what we can do to help out around here. Who knows? Maybe we'll find a way to earn whatever passes for money in this world."

Izuku thought for a moment before he agreed, smiling. "That sounds like a good idea. I've still got a lot to learn, so I'll follow your lead."

* * *

Yneira rushed into the official meeting chambers of the Yiga Clan. She had been out on patrol at the edge of the Gerudo Desert, gathering intelligence on Gerudo City when a messenger had appeared and given her a scroll that demanded that all Yiga members return to the hideout immediately. She hadn't the slightest clue what could have happened to warrant such an alarm, except maybe that Master Kohga, Ganon protect him, had passed away.

As she entered the tall room, she couldn't help but marvel again at the ingenuity of their ancestors. When the Sheikah outcasts had fled from the king of Hyrule ages past, they had stumbled upon a canyon with many caves and protecting cliffs. While the surrounding terrain was inhospitable, her ancestors had determined that this was to be their new home and had bent the canyons to their will, creating a complex labyrinth of rooms and buildings for themselves and their posterity.

Many of the rooms were simple, serving as bedrooms for low-status Yiga members or storerooms, but some, like the meeting chamber, were grandly decorated. Red banners with the white Yiga eye hung along the walls, and instead of a ceiling, the room was left open to the elements. In the center of the room was a seemingly bottomless pit that also amplified the voice of whomever was speaking, allowing everyone present in the room to hear what was being said. It was a marvelous room, and while Yneira knew that many of her family and friends didn't care for it, she couldn't help but love its rugged elegance.

"Yneira! Over here!"

She looked up and saw her best friend, Risso, waving her over. Yneira grinned. She had known her since they were little. Both had been born and raised in the Yiga, though their parents had each joined individually. They had been trained together in the arts of stealth and sabotage since they were children. They'd been through a lot—a favorite memory was when they'd managed to escape from Gerudo City together—and she considered the woman to be her closest friend.

"There you are! Where have you been, girl?" Risso asked, her husky voice dropping in volume as Yneira slid into the seat next to her. "I've been sittin' around, twiddlin' my thumbs for _days_ waitin' for you lazy snails to come crawlin' back home for this meetin'."

"Good to see you too, Risso," Yneira laughed. "They've had me on assignment down by the Gateway. I've been investigating—"

"A pretty thing like you, all the way out there? You must have been out of your mind, Yneira, takin' an assignment like that."

Yneira blushed and smiled. She was slim with dark hair and deeply tan skin, and while she knew that others thought she was pretty, she didn't think so herself, especially compared to her friend's gorgeous dark skin and curves. "Oh, shut up. It wasn't that bad."

Risso laughed. "What have you been doin' out there?"

"As I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted," Yneira said, glaring at her friend with mock severity, "I was investigating different ways to infiltrate Gerudo City."

"Did you find anythin'?"

Yneira sighed. "Unfortunately, not yet. The Gerudo harlots have fortified their city well."

Risso looked like she was going to interject again, but before she could, a man walked out from the crowd toward the center of the room. Yneira immediately recognized him as Cin, Master Kohga's second-in-command. Risso winked at her before turning back to face the man as he started speaking.

"Thank you all for returning on such a short notice," he said, his voice reverberating off of the walls. Yneira couldn't help but chuckle slightly to herself. She had always thought that the disparity between the small man's appearance and his voice was slightly comical. It had made accepting her last assignment much more difficult to take seriously.

"Master Kohga understands that some of you were involved in very important missions, and he appreciates your sacrifice," Cin continued. "However, he has recently had a vision of great import, one that takes precedence above all other tasks. I will turn the time over to him to explain this vision to you."

As soon as Cin finished speaking, a figure rose from the pit behind the small man—the majestic persona of Master Kohga himself. He waved at the assembled crowd before speaking, his reedy voice echoing around the room. "Thank you, Cin. My friends and family, I have received a fell vision from Ganon. It appears that the Hylian Champion has been awakened!"

Yneira's gasp was lost in the cries of shock and disbelief that immediately filled the room. People jumped to their feet and began shouting questions at Master Kohga. Beside her, Risso shook her head and leaned over. "Oh Calamity, he's riled 'em up good now."

After a few moments, Master Kohga raised his hands and silence fell across the room. "I understand your concern, friends, especially since we have lived in a time of relative peace since his disappearance. But the vision did not lie; Link has awakened.

"Unfortunately, the vision didn't tell me everything. I was shown a vision of three people traveling together: a blond young man, a youth with green hair, of all things, and a skeletal figure with blond hair." Kohga spread his arms wide. "While the legends of the Shrine of Resurrection tell us of its healing properties, we know nothing of whether it can reverse or prevent aging. As such, either of these blond men could be Link." He paused, his masked face slowly scanning the room. "That means that, in order to protect Ganon and ensure His return, both of these men must die."

Yneira saw heads nodding across the room, and she couldn't agree more. Anyone who threatened Ganon's return had to be dealt with immediately.

"In order to make that happen," Cin said, stepping up again, "we are going to disperse you all throughout Hyrule. According to Master Kohga, these three were headed east, which means that they are probably bound for Kakariko. Unfortunately, they will probably reach that destination, so instead of trying to cut them off, you will waylay them after the fact. To be clear," he said, his voice growing stern, "this is a very dangerous mission and of critical importance. As such, while we have summoned you, we will leave it up to each of you individually to decide whether to pursue this Champion or to see to other duties. Make your decisions carefully. Good luck, and may the Demon King guide you."

Both Cin and Master Kohga disappeared after the thin man finished speaking, leaving the gathered Yiga members to prepare amongst themselves. Yneira felt someone grip her arm and turned to face Risso, who was looking at her with concern. "You're goin', aren't you?" she asked.

"I've no reason not to, and it's like Cin said: this is a major threat that needs to be dealt with." Yneira paused, searching her friend's face. "Are you not?"

Risso hesitated, then said, "I... I don't think so. I've never been good at fightin'; that was always your strong suit. I'll stay back and make sure you have a home to come back to."

Yneira nodded before she hugged her friend. "I was a bit worried, I won't lie." Pulling back, she looked Risso in the eyes. "You'll be careful?"

Risso snorted. "Girl, I'm not the one who needs to be careful. You watch yourself, okay?"

"Please, as if I need to be concerned." Yneira pulled her mask from her belt and slipped the familiar weight on her face. "I'm an Arbiter; I can handle this."

* * *

FINALLY finished this one. For whatever reason, that stable scene was really hard to write. We're mostly past that though, so the next chapter should be along a bit sooner.

Also, say hi to the Yiga Clan! I think you'll find that they're a lot more capable than the goofballs that attack you in Breath of the Wild.

Thanks for all the encouragement and ideas, you guys. Seriously, it's a big motivation to keep working on this and making it as good as I can. Also want to give a shout out to Mr. Bad Guy on Discord for editing this for me and catching the little things that got away. Until next time!


	10. Chapter 10: Best Left Forgotten

Link stepped out of the shrine and promptly cursed. The sun was hanging just above the mountains and would soon disappear from sight, which meant that he had been in the shrine for far longer than it had actually felt. After a few moments, Link sighed. While he had wanted to get to Kakariko tonight, it didn't look like that was going to happen now. Midoriya and All Might must still be waiting for him.

With another sigh, he slipped through the small village of odd cube-shaped buildings and shortly arrived at the stable. It seemed like most of the work was done for the day, as most of the workers—their uniforms looked vaguely familiar, so he assumed that they were the stablehands—seemed to be in the middle of making meals over the cooking pots outside. He looked around outside the building, but didn't see either of the others. '_Maybe they went on without me? They do have their own friends that they needed to find.'_

Link wandered toward the stable's entrance, lost in thought. As he started to walk through, he bumped into someone and knocked the person over. "Oh, I'm sorry," Link apologized, shaking his head clear of his thoughts. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking."

"There you are, Link!" the person on the ground said. When he finally focused, Link was surprised to see Midoriya sitting on the floor. "We've been waiting for you for hours." The boy picked himself up and dusted himself off. "All Might's just back there. I'll be back in just a moment."

Izuku slipped past Link, leaving him standing in the entryway alone. '_I wonder where he's off to?'_ He watched his traveling companion disappear around the side of the stable before shrugging and stepping through the doorway into the joint sleeping and dining room. As his eyes adjusted to the relative darkness, he was able to pick out All Might quickly. Even in the small crowd that bustled about the room, the skeletal man and his interesting hairstyle stood out. He slipped his way through the crowd, and All Might's sunken eyes seemed to brighten when he sat down.

"Ah, there you are, Young Link," the older man said, sliding a mug across the table. "We were beginning to wonder if we'd need to stay the night waiting for you."

Link shrugged. "We might still need to stay the night. I don't know how far it is to Kakariko from here, and it's getting late."

Midoriya's mentor grinned. "It's not actually all that far. It's about half a day on foot, maybe a quarter by horse." His grin faded a little. "Of course, we don't have any horses, and we can't afford to buy any, even with what we made today."

"What you made? What were you doing while I was gone?"

"Oh, not all that much. We just explained that we were from far off and weren't familiar with Hyrule's economy and that we wouldn't mind offering our services while waiting for you. The people found different tasks that we could do and have given us a bit of money—rupees, I think they were called—as compensation." All Might chuckled softly. "That's actually where Young Midoriya went; he's helping out with the dinner, using some of what he learned at the training camp he recently attended. The stable workers were happy for his help and provided a meal and drinks on the house."

Link picked up the wooden mug and tasted the contents—and couldn't quite stop his eyebrows from rising. "This is quite good."

"Drink up. It's on the house. Once Young Midoriya returns, we can discuss what our next move should be."

The warrior followed All Might's advice, nursing his drink as he observed the people bustling through the room. It really was an odd-looking group. Besides the men and women dressed in the stable's livery, he spotted a couple of travelers who were talking in low voices a few tables over and a man with a red moon on his tunic who seemed to be muttering to himself and poring over some books in the corner of the room. He also had to include himself and All Might, whose curious hairstyle and skeletal appearance had drawn more than a few glances.

After a few minutes and still no Midoriya, Link sighed and turned to look toward the door—and stared. Sitting by the door behind him was the most curious-looking man he could ever remember seeing. His long face was framed by a mop of brown hair, his nose was large and very red, and his eyebrows were twisted in such a way that gave the man a permanent worried look. The man's small shirt and shorts, while not something that Link would choose to wear himself, were admittedly better clothing choices than his heavy tunic, which was tied around his waist.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about him, however, was the massive bag that was strapped to his back. Shaped like a large beetle, the bag towered over the skinny man and was covered in a wild variety of items. Small sacks and bundles of herbs hung from various tassels and ropes. The tops of jars and bottles stuck out of myriad pockets, and a small awning draped over the man's head.

'_I have to meet this man.'_ Link quickly slipped out of his seat and walked over to the giant bag. The man must have heard him, as he turned to look at Link as he approached. "Oh, I don't think I've met you before! The name's Beedle, but you can call me—actually, let's stick with Beedle."

The warrior couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the enthusiastic greeting. "Good to meet you, Beedle. I'm Link. Tell me, what do you need such a large backpack for?"

The man smiled, and his entire demeanor seemed to change, going from worried to shrewd. "I'm a traveling merchant. I travel all around Hyrule with my wares, visiting stables and villages alike. My trusty backpack carries all of the goods I trade—and helps people identify Beedle since no one else has a backpack like mine." Beedle's eyes narrowed as he looked up at Link. "Are you looking to buy something? Or do you have something to sell?"

Link shook his head. "No, I don't have anything to sell. I just saw your bag and was curious and wanted to meet you."

Beedle laughed. "Well, it has been nice. I'm sure we'll run into each other again. I frequent the stables and villages and occasionally make my way into Hateno Town, so odds are high that you'll see Beedle again."

Before Link could respond, Midoriya hurried back into the stable and almost crashed into him again, swerving at the last moment to save the tray of fish he was carrying. Link reached out a hand to help, but his green friend quickly rebalanced. "Sorry, Link! Give me just a moment to drop this off."

Link lowered his hand and watched Midoriya hurry away before turning back to Beedle. The merchant didn't seem to notice, his eyes also on Midoriya. "Who is that boy?" he asked.

"That's one of my traveling companions," Link said. He looked back and saw that Midoriya was making his way back through the crowd, his hands now empty. "He and his mentor were separated from their friends and are searching for them."

"Are they now?" Beedle murmured. Link glanced sharply at the man, but he didn't seem to notice. As Midoriya rejoined them, Beedle raised a hand in greeting. "Hello there, young man! Link here tells me that you've lost some of your friends; is that right?"

The hero-in-training's eyebrows rose. "Y-yes, we did. Why do you ask?"

Beedle grinned. "As I was telling your knight here, Beedle happens to be a traveling merchant. If you give me your friends' descriptions, I should be able to keep an eye out for them."

A smile quickly spread across Midoriya's face. "Y-you will? Thank you!"

Link frowned. "You're a merchant, though. I imagine that you don't do anything for free. What's your price?"

The eccentric man clutched at his chest. "Oh, you wound Beedle so. You don't think I would do this from the goodness of my heart?" Link shook his head, and he chuckled. "Well, you're shrewd. As you might have surmised from my name and my pack, I have a thing for beetles. Hyrule has many rare and beautiful varieties. If you collect any you encounter on your travels for me, I will watch for your friends. In fact," he said, his face lighting up, "I might be able to direct them to meet you somewhere. Maybe here, or perhaps Hateno Town?"

"That would be wonderful!" Midoriya said, smiling widely. "I will try to hold up my end of the bargain as well."

"Good, that's settled then. If you could give me the descriptions of your friends, I can keep an eye out for them."

Midoriya enthusiastically started to describe his friends, and Link couldn't help but be surprised. While they sounded mostly normal, each had some feature or trait that made sure that they would stand out in a crowd of Hylians. He was sure that Beedle wouldn't have any issues finding the girls, Ashido and Yaoyorozu, and Todoroki's scar and hair might make him an easier target as well. The others might be a bit harder since it sounded like they were mostly normal looking.

It was a bit odd, now that he thought about it, that he hadn't heard Midoriya describe his friends before. He'd only heard about the one who had been captured, Kacchan, and then not much other than he could apparently create explosions. '_I guess I really have been caught up in trying to piece together my past and keeping us alive,'_ he realized. '_And while we're still obviously alive, I wish I could remember what happened… and I need to get to know these two more.'_

After a few minutes, Beedle sat back and made a noise of satisfaction. "Thank you! That should be more than enough to help me locate your friends." He hesitated, as if he wasn't sure what to say, but then continued. "Incidentally, where do you and your friends come from, young man? Your friends' names are unusual, and you are clearly not a Hylian, not with your green hair."

Midoriya blushed. "Oh, w-we're from an island called Japan. It's far away from here."

Link thought he saw Beedle's eyes widen, but the man shook his head, making it hard for him to tell. "I don't know that I've heard about Japan before, but I'm sure it's nice," Beedle said. As Midoriya tried to stammer out a reply, the merchant hoisted himself to his feet and pulled his backpack up. He shifted it around a bit before flipping an awning out from the top to cover his head. "Well, it has been a pleasure getting to know you two," he said, "but I must be off to the next stable. Don't worry; Beedle will keep an eye out for your friends."

The man waved and ducked out the door, leaving the two alone. Link watched the man take one plodding step after another before turning to Midoriya. "Well, that was interesting. Are you done with your job?" he asked. When his friend didn't respond, he gently nudged him. "Midoriya? Have you finished?"

The green hero shook his head and tore his eyes away from the merchant's retreating form. "Just about. I just need to get our food now. If you help me, we can get all three of the plates in one go."

Link nodded and followed Midoriya out to the fire, where a few stablehands were tending a large pot of stew and several skewers of roasting fish. The savory smell from the stew combined with the tangy scent of the fish, creating a mouthwatering aroma that seemed to drift through the small hamlet. As Link watched, a couple of kids ran up to the cooks with empty bowls, and he couldn't help but chuckle as he recognized the ravenous look in their eyes. '_It's always nice to see others who appreciate food.'_

One of the cooks looked up at the two travelers as another ladled soup into the children's bowls. "Ah, you're back, Midoriya. Is this the friend you mentioned? Good. You can each take a bowl of soup and a fish skewer, and make sure that your master gets some as well."

Midoriya nodded and quickly helped get three platters ready, one of which he handed to Link. Link could feel his mouth start to water as he looked at the flaking skin of the fish and vibrant colors of the vegetables floating in the broth. He checked to see if his friend needed help, and when he saw that he had the other two platters easily in hand, led the way back inside to their table.

"Well, that both looks and smells tasty," All Might said as the two sat down. Link just nodded before he tucked into his food, tearing into the fish and slurping down a bit of the soup. He couldn't help but be impressed. The fish had an earthy taste, one that whatever spices had been used really brought out. The stew, in comparison, was quite savory, and complimented the skewer well.

"Looks like someone's hungry," All Might laughed.

Link forcefully swallowed. "I really like food."

"I'd noticed," Midoriya said, chuckling as he stirred his stew. "It's why we went all out. We'll need the energy for the rest of our trip, anyways."

All Might took a small bite of his fish. "Speaking of our trip," he said, "how do we want to proceed?"

Link took another bite and chewed thoughtfully, trying not to focus on just how well the fish had been cooked. "Erm, well—wait, you said that Kakariko is a half-day's journey from here?" When All Might nodded, he continued, "Then we might be able to make it there tonight. It would be late, but I'm sure that they have an inn that we could stay at. You said that you two had earned some rupees; that should cover any costs we encounter."

"Why not just stay the night here?" Midoriya said, gesturing with his fork. "They said they'd let us stay the night."

Link shook his head. The idea of staying put when he could be moving toward his goal didn't sit well with him, especially when he could be at his destination with a little extra effort. "I feel this sense of urgency about moving on. I don't know why, but I think we need to keep moving. If we could get horses, that would be ideal, but catching some might take too much time."

The other two looked at each for a moment before All Might nodded. "We'll follow you, Young Link. We're still strangers in your world, and don't know the best place to begin looking for our comrades."

Midoriya choked and banged a fist into his chest a couple of times before finally speaking. "I-I think we might have an easier time with that, All Might." He quickly went on to explain their encounter with the merchant and the deal that he had made. "I figured that we could use some help, and a traveling merchant seemed like the kind of person to ask."

The perpetual shadows over All Might's eyes deepened, and he responded in a low voice. "You're probably right, but I can't help but wonder if this decision will have further-reaching consequences than we intended."

The three lapsed into silence, brooding over the hero's words. Link remembered the look of surprise that he'd seen when Beedle had heard about Japan. '_Did I just imagine it? There's no way that he could have heard about a country from another world, right? I mean, travel between worlds can't be that common.' _Lost in his thoughts, he was surprised to feel the scraping of wood against wood and looked down to find that his bowl was empty and his fish gone. When he looked up, both of the others weren't all that close to finishing. '_Well, I guess I'll just need to keep an eye on our merchant friend the next time we see him.'_

Link scooted himself away from the table and stood. "I'm going to go stretch my legs after that delicious meal. I'll be just outside when the two of you are done." The two continued eating, and All Might nodded at him as he left. He didn't doubt that All Might—'_I should really ask if that's his actual name or a title'—_had some things that he wanted to say about the deal or the other missing students, and Link didn't want him to feel pressured. Best for him to wait outside while they conferred. He stepped into the evening sunlight and stretched. If the evening stayed as pleasant as it was, then they would have a nice, relaxed walk ahead of them. He might as well explore a bit while waiting.

He looked around, trying to decide where to go first. Maybe he could scout out the road to Kakariko a bit. He set out, trying to get an idea of what the road might be like, but only got to the edge of the hamlet before he pulled up short, studying the mountains. Something about them seemed familiar. He squinted, trying to make them out a bit more clearly. As he stared, the sun was briefly covered by a cloud, sending shadows across the distant mountain peaks. In the artificial darkness, he recognized them, and with the recognition came the crushing weight of memory.

* * *

_Pain._

The rain poured through the canyon, drenching everything. Trees covered both banks, though he had no doubt in his mind that Guardians would uproot them. Theoretically, both the rain and the trees would make it more difficult for the Guardians to pursue them, but he knew better than to hope for such luck. The possessed machines were relentless and destroyed all in their sight. It would only be a matter of time before they caught up again.

_Pain_.

He glanced behind him as he ran, making sure that the princess was still with him. The rain had long since washed away the tear stains from her face, but it had yet to fully rinse the soot from her once-white dress. He couldn't help but admire her. Here she was, exhausted physically, mentally, and spiritually, and yet she still led her people. She had refused to leave the vicinity of Castle Town until all of the survivors had escaped, which made them the last of the refugees fleeing Ganon's wrath.

_Pain_.

He winced as he stumbled over a small rock. While little, it added to the aches and pains that he felt all over his body. Several of the robots had gotten a bit closer than he had liked, and he had burns all across his body from his first few unsuccessful attempts to dodge their lasers. While that seemed to be their preferred method of attack, they also liked to lash out with their legs and clawed feet, which were sharper than some of the finer swords he'd had.

He'd lost track of the number of enemies he'd fought during their escape. The Guardians were bad enough, but they'd eventually been reinforced by monsters. Bokoblins had ambushed the last few groups of refugees, and it had taken everything he had to defeat them while protecting those who were left. Most of the remaining guards had gone with the first wave to clear the way. There were a few who had remained to go with each group, but those had either been old men or young boys. He snorted; too much experience and too little. Neither would help them if the Guardians caught up.

_Pain_.

He clambered over a boulder and started to continue before freezing. There had been a sound from somewhere in the forest to his left. He eyed the area carefully, gesturing for the princess to stay behind him. When nothing appeared, the two of them started to run again, though he kept his eyes on the left bank. Just ahead of them was the final bend in the canyon that would take them to the field and village outside of Fort Hateno. He just hoped that everyone had already fled.

As they approached the corner, he froze again as the sound he had heard earlier repeated itself. This time, he recognized it for what it was; the screech of metal scraping against stone. He searched the left side of the river again, but didn't see anything. He frowned. If the machines weren't on the bank…

Almost against his will, dreading what he might find, he started to scan the face of the cliff opposite them—and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't find anything. He was about to start for the canyon exit again when the sound repeated itself. He glanced up again in time to see a clawed leg appear over the edge of the cliff.

"Run, princess!" he cried, pulling out his shield. She did as he said, darting forward immediately with him close behind. The screeching sound behind him increased as the thing drew nearer, heralding the sound that came a few moments later.

_Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep._

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Guardian, which had now lodged itself on the cliff wall like some metallic insect. Its single eye was trained on him, the red tracking dot darting around him as it tried to get a lock. He hid behind his shield and braced himself.

_PSSHEWWWW!_

_**PAIN.**_

* * *

"Link, are you all right? Link!"

Link yelped and shook himself, blinking his eyes rapidly and staring around in confusion. Where was the murder machine? What had happened to the rain? And the princess? He had to find her immediately. She had to survive!

"Easy there, Young Link. Take a couple of deep breaths."

A hand settled firmly on his shoulder, and he tried to heed the deep voice's advice. After a few moments, his vision cleared, and he could see Midoriya and All Might, now in his muscular form, standing next to him. All Might's hand was clamped firmly on his shoulder, preventing him from moving anywhere. He glanced back and forth between the two of them in confusion. "Where did you two come from? Where's the Guardian?"

All Might frowned, a facial expression that seemed inherently wrong to Link. "What Guardians are you talking about, Young Link? We've not seen any of those, not since your encounter on The Plateau."

"Are you all right, Link?" Midoriya asked, his eyes wide in concern. "We finished dinner and found you just standing here, staring at the mountain. You didn't answer or say anything when we tried talking to you, and then you went super pale and—"

Link held up a hand to cut him off. "I'm… okay. I think some of my memories have come back." He shook his head as they started to ask questions. "I don't know anymore than you do. I was looking at those mountains over there when it dawned on me that they looked familiar. Next thing I know, I'm reliving the past."

All Might looked thoughtful. "Even in our time, Amnesia is a tricky condition. Of those who suffer from it, very few of them have full memory loss as you do. From what I recall, a common theme among those that do manage to recover their memories is that something usually triggers it. I assume that those mountains served as the trigger point for that memory."

"But if that's the case, why do I only remember a little bit?" Link cried in frustration.

"I think I remember reading something about that," Midoriya said, brow furrowed. "In some cases, the amnesiac gets all of his memories back. In others, they get them back in spurts. It sounds like you might be one of the latter ones."

Link opened his mouth to protest, but stopped as something tickled his memory. He turned and stared out toward the field to the east of the stable, the field that he now knew had been guarded by Fort Hateno a hundred years ago. Almost automatically, his feet started to move in the direction of the field, slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed. He heard the others call out to him in surprise, but he ignored them, following the pull of his returning memory into the field, startling several wild horses in the process. He wished he had an answer for them, but he had the feeling that he was about to find out that answer himself.

After ten or so minutes of running, he finally stopped as he stumbled across the ruins of a building that had clearly been blown apart. He heard Midoriya and All Might come to a stop behind him, but he ignored them again for the moment. He studied the blacked stones, but this didn't seem to be what he was being pulled towards, so he continued walking, much more slowly as he tried to take things in.

His companions silently followed him in, and after a few minutes, he started to speak. "I saw myself and Princess Zelda running through the canyon. We were on our way to Hateno with plans to double-back to Kakariko, since we needed to talk to… someone. We were ambushed by a Guardian. It was painful, but we survived."

He paused to investigate a blackened Guardian that seemed to have fallen into a wall. Dozens more dotted the landscape and stuck out from the destroyed village. "When we got to this village, those who had gone ahead of us had already warned them, so they had managed to escape. Unfortunately, Ganon's corrupted machines caught up as well. Most of them ignored us, but we had to fight a running battle as we all surged toward Fort Hateno."

He stepped around a boulder and saw three of the robots piled up on top of each other. He shuddered as he approached, scanning the spot. "By that point, I was beat up pretty bad. I was barely functioning, but I had somehow managed to keep Zelda and myself alive. But here," he said, stepping up in front of the metal corpses, "was where the tide changed. I had killed the bottom two when the one on top clambered over their husks and locked on to me. I tried to raise my shield and my sword, but I just couldn't get them up." He paused, staring up at the dead eye of the Guardian in question. He tasted bile, and hastily fought to swallow it back down as his remembered pain echoed in his head. "It was on this spot that I ultimately failed my oaths and my princess.

"It was on this spot that I died."

* * *

Got another chapter out, and it only took me two or three weeks this time, haha. I've been looking forward to writing that memory scene for days and finally just sat down last night and pounded it out until I was happy with it.

On the note of the memory, any of you who have played the game will know that this memory is only accessible after you gather all others. While I could have gone that route, I didn't see any reason for that to actually happen here. You may also notice some other minor differences.

Thank you all for your comments, guesses, and ideas. I seriously love seeing what you all have to say and hope that the story continues to be enjoyable. Next chapter we'll be checking in on some of the others, which gives Link some time to come to terms with his memory. Also, shout out to Revion and Stress on Discord for looking over the chapter and catching the things I missed. I'll see you all next time!


	11. Chapter 11: She Goes Sailing

Mina leaned back and stretched, enjoying the sun's setting rays. Sitting on the dock and watching the sun disappear into the ocean had become something of a tradition over the week or so that she had been in Lurelin. She found it incredibly relaxing, and it helped keep her from thinking too much about home or her missing friends or—

'_No, don't you get started, Mina. Just relax and enjoy the evening.'_ She could hear Erim calling for dinner, and she smiled. The woman had taken Mina under her motherly wing since her arrival. Her husband, off on a fishing trip, had told Mina before he left that Erim was the one who really ran the village. She was quiet, but when she spoke, everybody listened. Her friendly, no-nonsense attitude put her squarely in charge whenever there were problems that warranted the attention of the entire village, never mind what the elder was doing at the time. To top it all off, she had apparently been an excellent dancer in her youth.

"Ashido! Dinner's ready!"

Mina licked her lips. Erim was also an excellent cook. "I'll be there in just a minute," she yelled back. She wanted to enjoy the evening sun just a little more before going in for food.

As she looked out over the ocean, she noticed an odd shape and shielded her eyes, squinting against the sunlight as she tried to get a better look. Whatever it was, it was long and low and seemed to be cutting through the waves toward the beach. '_Probably a boat of some kind.'_ She watched it for a few moments before turning and seeing one of the villagers heading up from the docks. "Azal! Could you come here for a moment?"

The man changed his course without breaking stride, slowly strolling up to her. "Sure thing, Miss Ashido. Whatchu need?"

She couldn't help but chuckle. Azal was one of the young fishermen who seemed to be enamored with her "exotic nature." Anytime she needed anything, she had but to ask and Azal's mop of unruly dark hair would bob over to help, almost like a helpful dog. It was flattering, but she wasn't looking forward to telling him 'no.'

Azal cocked his head to the side. "Wha's so funny?"

"Nothing. You just reminded me of something." Mina turned around and pointed at the shape, which she could now definitely tell was a boat. "I just saw that boat coming in and wasn't sure if anyone else was out."

"Boat?" Azal's grin melted, his mouth tightening in a line as he peered out across the water. "Migh' be raiders. Keep an eye on it while I git me glass."

'_Raiders?'_ Mina wanted to ask, but was afraid of the answer she might get. Instead, she just nodded and continued to watch the mysterious boat. She couldn't see how such a small ship could be a threat, unless it was like one of those submarines in old war movies. She eyed the waterline nervously, but it didn't _seem_ like there was anything under there. '_Oh, where's Tsuyu when I need her?'_

The thudding of footsteps behind her alerted her to Azal's return. The man skidded to a stop next to her, his eyes focused on the oncoming ship as he raised his telescope. Mina watched him study it for a minute before the tension became too much for her. "Well? Are they raiders?" she demanded.

The few moments of silence that followed her question nearly drove her crazy. She was about to pounce on the man and demand answers when he chuckled and lowered his telescope. "'Fraid no', miss. It's th' merchant."

'_Merchant? What merchant?'_

Before she could ask, Azal turned to face her fully. "Ev'ryone'll want t'trade with 'im. Why don' you run an' git ev'ryone t'gether, and I'll git th' dock ready."

Mina hesitated for a moment, still curious about the merchant, but decided to do as she had been asked. She spun on her heel and jogged back up the beach, slowing only to poke her head inside of Erim's door. "Erim! Azal sent me. There's a merchant's boat pulling in."

The woman looked up from the small table where she was laying out several plates. "Oh? Did he say which trader it was?" she asked.

Mina shook her head. "No. He just said it was 'the merchant.' Whoever it is has a long, low boat though."

Erim stared at her for a moment before grinning. "Oh, it's _that_ one. I've been having the kids get things together for him. Why don't you sit down and eat, and I'll send them to go tell the others."

Mina opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by her stomach's gurgling. "Well, I guess I could use some food," she said, entering the building more fully. "Do you need any help getting things ready?"

"No, I just need to bring the food out now. I figured you might want a change, so we slaughtered one of the chickens today. I think you'll like it."

If the wonderful smells coming from the building's small kitchen meant anything, then Mina would probably have to agree. Mina took a seat at the table as Erim left the room before returning moments later with some sort of cooked chicken and vegetables. She could feel her mouth beginning to water as she looked at it and the rice that her host placed down moments later. '_If it takes too long for the kids to get here, I might go nuts.'_

Almost as if her thoughts had summoned them, Erim's two children dashed into the house and buzzed around her, and Mina couldn't help but laugh. Kalph and Esial, about seven and three respectively, were always energetic, but never so much as when they were eating or skipping stones. The two had learned to love food early in life, and with their mom's cooking, Mina couldn't blame them.

"Settle down, you two. We'll eat in just a minute," Erim said before handing several wooden utensils to her daughter. "Esial, could you be a big girl for a moment and finish setting the table?"

"Yup! I big girl!"

Erim chuckled as the small child toddled around toward the table before turning toward her son. "Before we eat, Kalph, I need you to run a quick errand for me."

Mina watched as the life seemingly drained out of the boy. "But Mama, I'm hungry!"

"I know, but this will only take a few moments." Erim took her son by the hand and led him over to the door of the house, where she pointed at something that Mina couldn't see, but presumed was the merchant's boat. "You see that boat? That's Mr. Beedle's boat. I need you to run and tell Elder Mazas that he's coming in. You're a lot faster than Miss Ashido or I."

"Really?" Kalph looked up at his mother, his earlier reluctance replaced with excitement.

"Really. And if you go fast and make sure that the elder organizes the others, we'll go down and look at what he has. Maybe there'll be something for you and your sister."

"Oh wow! I'll go. I'm fast; you'll see!"

The boy took off running, scattering sand as he dashed up the hill toward the elder's house. Mina chuckled as Erim turned around and sighed theatrically. "Hylia knows that he'll be a handful when he's older."

"He's a good kid."

"That he is, and I couldn't ask for a better one." Erim stepped over to the table and smiled at her youngest's haphazard attempts to set the table. "Well done, child. Now, shall we eat?"

"'Ken!" Esial declared, clambering into her chair and reaching for some of the roasted bird.

Her mother gently caught her hand. "Not yet. Let's thank the Goddess for her bounty, and then we can eat."

The little girl pouted, but sat back down. Her mother smiled at her and at Mina before clasping her hands together and gazing toward the sky. "Oh great Goddess, we are thankful for the bounty you have bestowed upon us…"

Mina listened to the grace quietly. She still found it a bit weird that the people of this world apparently worshiped honest-to-goodness goddesses, but she tried to take it in stride. She actually thought that it was kind of sweet, though she appreciated that Erim hadn't asked her to give grace.

"…until the Golden Goddesses return." Erim paused and looked at the door to the house. Within moments, Kalph appeared, out of breath. "Did you deliver the message, Kalph?"

The boy nodded. "Yes, Mama. Elder said he'd let people know. Can we go down to meet the merchant?"

"After dinner. We just gave thanks for the meal, so come and eat."

Kalph dashed over to the table and bounced in his chair while his mother got food for Esial. Mina chuckled to herself as she reached out to scoop some food onto his plate. "Here, I'll get this for you. What have you two been up to?"

She chuckled again as Kalph's eyes went big. "We were up playing by that weird building. We tried to figure out how to open it, but it's locked pretty tight. So we pretended we were protecting it from monsters. I got to be the legendary hero!"

"Oh, that's pretty cool. You know, where I come from, we have a lot of different heroes, but a couple stand out as being truly legendary. I'm lucky to have one as one of my teachers."

Mina hadn't thought that the little boys could go any wider, but he proved her wrong. "Wow, really? What's he like? Does he save people like our legendary hero?"

"Totally! He's so awesome. He always beats the bad guys, and whenever he's always smiling when he saves people. That way, they know that everything will be okay."

"Woooow!"

Erim laughed at her son's enthusiasm. "Let Miss Ashido eat, Kalph. We can talk about heroes afterward."

"Oh, I don't mind," Mina said, though she was secretly a little relieved. While she knew a lot about All Might, she didn't feel like she could do any description justice. That said, after having met Midori, she didn't think anyone would be able to accurately describe him. She could feel the emotions she'd been repressing start to well up with the thought of her green friend, and quickly tried to think of something else. Her eyes landed on the chicken. She speared a small piece and, as she bit into it, felt her eyes go wide from the delicious savory flavor that somehow reminded her of seashells.

The four ate their meal in relative silence, the only sound the clicking of wooden utensils against wooden plates and the constant sound of the ocean. As they were finishing, Mina heard the sound of voices approaching the hut. When she glanced through the kitchen window, she spotted a group of villagers heading down to the beach.

Mina quickly stood up and scooped up her plate before glancing at the others. It seemed like they were done, so Mina started to gather their plates as well. "I'll get these cleaned up. That way, you three can go down to the beach."

Her host glanced up at her and seemed to think for a moment before nodding. "Thank you. There's a bucket of water in the kitchen. If you would just scrape the food off and rinse the plates with the water, I'll worry about cleaning them afterwards."

"Okay, I can do that." She took their plates into the kitchen and found the bucket pretty quickly. She didn't mind doing the work; Erim had been a great host and Mina tried to help however she could.

As she rinsed the plates, she thought back to what Kalph had said about a legendary hero. From what she had seen and learned from Erim, there weren't many people left after the Calamity a hundred years ago, whatever that had been. They didn't have a group of heroes who stopped crime or protected innocent people from bad guys. But apparently they had had one hero at some point. She'd have to ask her host for more information. She racked the last plate and grinned. If she could learn something about this hero, she might be able to impress Midori the next time she saw him.

Whenever that was. Her grin slipped, and she sighed as she wiped away the tears of frustration that had sprung to her eyes. "It just isn't faaair. This is worse than Mr. Aizawa forcing us to do extra work during summer camp."

She just had to resign herself to the fact that she didn't know when, or if, she would see her friends again. She was pretty sure that whatever had brought her to his world had probably dumped them here somewhere as well, but she had no way of knowing where. For all she knew, they could be clear on the other side of the globe from her.

A soft tug on her shirt caught her attention. She scrubbed the tears from her eyes again before turning to find Esial looking up at her. The toddler tilted her head to the side, concern in her eyes. "Miss 'Shido sad?"

Mina tried to force a laugh, but it came out as more of a cough. "Yeah, I'm a little sad. I miss my friends and family, and I don't know if I'll ever see them again."

Esial's eyes widened slightly and she ran out of the room, only to return moments later holding something in her hand, which she promptly held out to Mina. Mina took it and realized it was the little girl's red stuffed fish person that she carried around all over the place. Esial gently pushed it into Mina's chest. "This Mr. Zo'a. He help me feel better when I sad."

Tears welled up in Mina's eyes once more as she crouched down and embraced the little girl. "Th-thank you, Esial. I think he'll help me, too."

The little girl returned the hug as best she could, squeezing Mina for all she was worth. After a few moments, her grip loosened, and Mina let her go. Esial looked up at her, a radiant smile lighting up her tanned face. "Let's see merchant!"

Mina gave a watery chuckle and nodded. The toddler dashed out of the room past her mother, who was standing in the door. Mina just nodded after Esial and said, "She's such a sweetie."

The woman stepped over and wrapped her in a hug. "That she is, and you are too." After a moment, Erim stepped back and smiled. "Let's head down to the beach. You don't want to keep that little girl waiting, do you?"

"Nope." Mina wiped her eyes again and chuckled as a thought struck her. "It's a good thing my classmates aren't here. A couple of the stronger ones would totally make fun of me and tell me that heroes don't cry, especially in front of the people they're supposed to protect."

"That's fish slop." Erim slowly guided Mina out of the house. "Just because you're a hero or a hero in training doesn't mean that you don't have feelings. Life is hard, and sometimes, you just can't see the sun on a rainy day, no matter how thick or thin the cloud layer might be. On top of that, while you may have this great responsibility to help and save others, you and your friends are still kids, Ashido. Don't be in too big of a hurry to grow up, or you'll find that you've missed the ebbing tide."

Mina smiled. "Ocean metaphors?"

"I am a fisherman's wife."

The two chuckled and walked back down the path to the beach. The docks and shore surrounding them were significantly more crowded than when Mina had left, though nowhere near as crowded as any beach on Earth, thankfully. In the time that she'd been gone, the merchant's ship had been moored to the docks. Torches had been lit and now dotted the dock and shore, flames fluttering in the evening breeze. One of the villagers spotted them and respectfully stepped to the side. "Th' kiddos are all up at th' edge of th' dock, Erim. The merchant's showin' 'em somethin'."

Erim nodded her thanks and slowly worked her way through the crowd. Mina stayed close behind her, clutching the fish-man doll to her side. She didn't want to make Esial sad by losing it. As they got to the front of the crowd, they saw the kids all sitting or standing on the dock with a few adults for supervision, watching a man that Mina took to be the merchant show off some kind of toy. He made it do something, and the children laughed, clapping happily.

After a few more deft movements that produced more laughter, the man whisked the toy away and stood up to face the crowd. He tugged his scarf around and straightened his crop top before saying, "Hello, people of Lurelin! Beedle comes bearing news and goods from the rest of Hyrule."

'_He refers to himself in third person?'_ Mina blinked, surprised at how well she could hear the man. Though he hadn't shouted, his voice had sounded like he was standing right next to each other even though he was six or seven meters away. She thought it might have just been her, but she was quickly disabused of that thought as a man behind her called out, "What news have ye, Merchant Beedle?"

The man—Beedle—replied, "Some good, and some not so good. Monsters have grown bolder, waylaying groups of travelers and disrupting trade, and some of the stable outposts have seen increased Guardian activity. A few of the Sheikah have reported that Ganon's Malice seems to have thickened around Castle Town, and many believe that the beast stirs in captivity, that the Princess might be weakening—or has already been consumed."

Murmurs swept through the crowd as the people dissected this bit of apparently grim news. Mina leaned over to Erim and murmured, "Who is Ganon?"

"He—or it, rather—is the being that destroyed the kingdom of Hyrule a hundred years ago," Erim replied quietly, eyes focused on the merchant. "Princess Zelda managed to use her power to contain the beast before we could all be destroyed and hasn't been seen since. If Ganon's power is growing again, then something bad is coming."

Beedle seemed to be perfectly aware of the impact his words had had. He sat on the prow of his ship and listened to the discussions that had erupted at his announcement. After a few minutes, he stood once again and held his hands in the air. Slowly, the mutterings and voices died away until the only sounds were from the breeze and breaking tide. "While things appear bleak, there is some good news," the man said, slowly scanning the crowd. His gaze met Mina's, and Mina thought his eyes widened.

Just as quickly as the look had come, it was gone again, and he continued scanning the crowd, making Mina wonder if she had seen what she had thought. "Yes, there is good news," he continued. "The Hateno Militia has been preparing and working with the Sheikah scientists, Robbie and Purah, and they believe that they are prepared for anything Ganon throws at them.

"While that is good news, I am happy to say that Beedle has even better news. A short while ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Zelda's Champion. He has returned to Hyrule as was promised, and is even now traveling with his companions to Kakariko Town to consult with the Sheikah elder Impah on how to right the wrongs of a hundred years ago!"

Noise erupted around Mina at this announcement. People argued with each other and yelled at Beedle, asking for more information. The kids just looked confused. Some of the smaller ones had been frightened by the sudden outburst and ran back to their parents. Esial collided with her mother's legs and clung to her skirt, with Kalph following close behind.

Erim looked at Mina and rolled her eyes before kneeling and saying something to Esial. The little girl detached herself from her mother and latched on to Mina while her mother marched over to the side of the ship. Mina brushed the little girl's hair for a moment before giving her Mr. Zora, which she hugged just as tightly as she was holding on to Mina. Ahead, Erim spoke with the merchant for a moment, who nodded and disappeared inside his cabin while she clambered up the side of the ship. Within moments, the man reappeared with a pair of pans, which Erim promptly took and crashed together.

Mina winced at the sound, which had been amplified the same way Beedle's voice had been earlier. '_It probably has something to do with the water.'_ The noise level dropped drastically around her, people stopping mid-conversation as Erim struck the two pans together again. When most of the arguing had died down, Mina's host lowered the pans. "Honestly, you people arguing and counting your fish before the net's reeled in. Let the man finish!"

Erim handed the pans back to Beedle and climbed back off of the ship. Beedle cleared his throat and said, "Thank you, ma'am. I was able to pick out some of your questions, and I'm afraid I do not have many answers for you. Zelda's Champion himself did not seem to know what course of action he would pursue, or where he would concentrate his efforts. I will relay that information on Beedle's next visit when I have learned more."

Beedle looked back over his shoulder at the horizon before addressing the crowd again. "Beedle knows that you wish to peruse the wares I have brought, but I need time to get set up and to take care of some things. Come back in a little while."

The sun disappeared below the horizon as the crowd grumbled in response, but the grumbling seemed to be good natured this time around. The people around Mina began to disperse, one or two calling out thanks to the merchant while the rest spoke with one another in hushed voices. Mina couldn't blame them. From what she understood, this Beedle had dropped a totally huge bombshell on them.

So Hyrule had a champion. Or Champion, rather; they way Beedle had said it had made it seem like an important title of some kind. Maybe it was something like a hero? Mina just hoped that he would be able to do something about this icky Ganon thing, for the sake of the villagers. She looked up as Erim rejoined them and grinned. "Erim, that was so cool how you just took control like that!"

"It wasn't anything I haven't done before," the woman laughed. "Thanks for watching the kiddos for me. Shall we head back to the house? Kalph and Esial can tell us about the things that the merchant showed them."

The kids eyes lit up, and Mina laughed. "I think that's a yes."

The four of them turned and started back up the path. Kalph saw a couple of the other village boys and ran ahead, promising his mom that he would be back in a bit. She just waved him away as the three continued at a leisurely stroll toward the house. They didn't get far before someone yelled at them from the beach.

"Excuse me! Could I speak with you for a moment, miss?"

Mina turned back around to the source of the voice and watched the merchant jog up to them. "Sure thing, merchant guy. Didn't you say you had things to do?"

The man nodded. "Indeed, Beedle has many tasks, and this is one of them. Are you, by any chance, Ashido Mina?"

Mina froze for a moment before nodding. "Y-yes, that's me. How on earth do you know my name?!"

"I had thought as much. You were listening as I told everyone about the Hylian Champion Link and his companions?"

"Yes, but I don't know what that has to do with your magical knowledge of my name!"

"Patience, Miss Ashido." The man fished around for a moment in a cute pouch strapped to his waist before pulling out a piece of paper covered in handwriting. "One of his companions gave me your description and asked me to watch for you. I believe you might know him, a boy with green hair named—"

"Midori!" Mina shrieked. She grabbed the man's arms and shook him in her excitement. "How is he doing? Where is he? Does he know where the others are?"

Beedle laughed and gently extracted himself from Mina's grip. "He's doing just fine. He's traveling with the Hylian Champion and his mentor to Kakariko at the moment, though I do believe that they will be making their way from there to Hateno Town on the coast. If you would like, I can take you there, provided that you help out around the ship."

The offer brought Mina up short, and she weighed the options in her mind. On the one hand, that was awfully nice of the merchant, but on the other hand, that was _awfully_ nice of the man. "You're not offering so you can do creepy stuff, right? 'Cause I'll melt your boat if that's what you're planning."

The man hastily shook his head. "Not at all. Beedle's only interest is in, well, beetles."

'_I… don't want to think about that.'_

Erim stepped up beside Mina. "Ashido, I think I can vouch for Beedle. He may be a traveler, but he has helped us find missing people in the past, and we've not had anything but good dealings with him." She paused, and then spun and pointed a finger at Beedle. "And if anything _were_ to happen to you, there isn't a place in this world that Hylia could hide him from me."

Beedle swallowed and nodded. "Have no fear. I will deliver her safely to Hateno. We'll leave in two days, maybe sooner depending on how sales go, which should put you there in another two days. A little ahead of your friend, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Well then, consider yourself hired!" Mina bounced up and down. She knew that she was grinning like a maniac, but she didn't care. '_Midori's okay! Midori's okay! And it sounds like he's with All Might!' _

She turned and hugged Erim tightly before pulling away. "Thank you so much for your help. You've honestly been kind of like a surrogate mom while I've been here."

"Well dear, you kind of needed one. Let's get your things sorted tonight so you don't have to scramble to get them together in the wee hours of the morning while the tide goes out."

Mina felt a familiar tug on her shirt and looked down at Esial. The girl was watching her solemnly. "You find fwiend?"

'_I want my children to be as cute as this little one.'_ Aloud, Mina said, "Yeah, Mr. Beedle knows where he is. So I'll be leaving in a couple of days."

The little girl nodded and held out her fish. "Mr. Zo'a wants to go with you. He keep you safe and happy."

"Are you sure?" When Esial nodded, Mina hesitantly took the fish man. "Thank you. I'll make sure that he's safe."

Esial nodded and yawned. Erim picked the little girl up and said, "That was a very big girl thing to do. For now, we should go home. You can discuss things with Mr. Beedle tomorrow. For now, you'll need to get some sleep, especially if you're going to learn how to be a merchant tomorrow."

Mina nodded and turned to the face of the nervously beaming merchant. "Thank you so much. I'll find a way to pay you back, I promise."

* * *

Thanks to Boo Boo the Fool on Discord for editing this chapter. He asked some questions that kept me dancing on my toes looking up the answers, haha.

But yeah, got the chapter finished! This was originally supposed to be a chapter with a few different perspectives, but it ended up being a Mina chapter. We'll peek in at the others next chapter, and then we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. As always, thanks for reading and your comments/kudos/likes, and I hope you enjoyed it!


	12. Chapter 12: Nytroglycerin and Ice

The sounds of fighting surrounded Shoto. The clang of metal against bone, the shrieks of dying monsters, and the rumbles of explosions filled the air. He didn't have time to pay much attention, though. He leapt backward, barely avoiding the moblin's club as it swooshed through the space he had occupied. The force of the missed swing caused the creature to overbalance. It yelped and tottered around to the side, trying to get its weapon up again, but it was far too late. Shoto stamped his foot into the ground, sending a wave of ice cascading toward the creature. Once it reached the creature, Shoto twisted his foot.

_Schnnck!_

The wave of ice became a crystalline spike that impaled the creature. Its eyes widened and it shrieked in pain before going limp, its club slipping from its grip and clattering to the cold, rocky cliffside. Shoto nodded to himself as dark, purple-ish liquid leaked from both the creature's mouth and wound alike; one less creature to worry about.

Another explosion caught his attention, and he turned in time to see Bakugo blast one of the smaller bokoblins over the edge of the cliff into the canyon below. His classmate was grinning maniacally as he spun to search for another opponent. Shoto caught his attention, and the blond scowled. "What're you doing just standing there, you idiot?"

Shoto simply sighed and shook his head. "The same as you, though I believe we're done here."

Bakugo looked confused for a moment before he came to the same realization that Shoto had had. Aside from some groaning and quiet voices, it seemed that the rest of the fighting had finished as well. Shoto surveyed around the site of the small skirmish and nodded. That morning, a traveler had ridden through Taban, the small hamlet surrounding the Tabantha Bridge Stable, to warn the villagers that she had seen a group of monsters heading their way. He and Bakugo had decided to go with the small group that had been assembled to fight back the creatures. They had crossed the bridge and set up a small barricade of wood and ice on the other side. When the monsters had finally arrived, the villagers had been ready.

And from his observations, it appeared that the fight—'_Could this be called a battle?'—_had gone well for the Hylians. A few were being bandaged up, but at least Shoto didn't see any of them amidst the bodies. "This went better than I expected."

Bakugo's eyes narrowed as he scanned the area as well. "I hate to admit it, but you're right, Icy-Hot. From what the extras in the village had said, I thought we were in for a real challenge. This was too damn easy."

"That's because we had the two of you."

The two teens turned to find a man wearing rusty old armor approaching them. "Thanks to your magic abilities, we were able to rout the creatures much more easily than times when they had raided in the past," he said. "I think the worst injury anyone received was some broken ribs, and that only because the young fool thought he could block a moblin club with his small shield."

Bakugo snorted. "Damn, and here I thought Deku was stupid."

"In any case," Shoto cut in, "we're glad that we were able to help. It's the least that we could do after your people took us in, Tongo."

Tongo's smile brought out the familiar wrinkles in his leathery face. "It's the least we could do. And you two have been a big help in the week or so that you've been here."

"Before we get too sentimental," Bakugo growled, "what do we do with all these damn bodies? Didn't you people say that they come back to life sometimes?"

If the older man was upset by Bakugo's lack of respect, he didn't show it. Instead, he just gestured toward the cliff. "We'll dump them into the canyon. That way when the blood moon comes, we won't have to worry about them coming to attack again."

Shoto nodded and walked over to place his right hand on his icicle spear. He concentrated, and the ice extended out and into the ravine. The body slowly slid off and fell into the abyss, its strange purple blood the only sign that there had ever been anything there in the first place. He sighed silently as he heard another explosion behind him and watched another body go rocketing out of sight. He turned around and glared at Bakugo, who just grinned. "What? I just made it even more dead."

His reply was cut off by a distant shriek of terror. He spun on his heel, searching for the source—and froze, his eyes going wide in surprise.

Flying slowly toward them was some sort of monstrous machine. It bobbed in the air as it tracked something beneath it, a round section at the bottom that looked like an eye even from this distance moving to and fro. Suddenly, a bright blue beam of light erupted from the "eye," lancing down to the ground below and causing the earth to erupt in a violent explosion. Evidently, it missed its target, as it started floating in a different direction.

"What _is_ that?" Shoto asked.

"That's a Guardian," Tongo said, voice tight. "The dead can wait; we need to get out of here now. If that thing sees us, we're all dead. Whatever poor fool attracted the thing's attention will be soon, if he isn't already."

Shoto glanced back at the flying machine, his mind racing. "You take the others and leave. Bakugo and I will take care of this."

"What? B-but you'll be killed!"

"Like hell we will!" Bakugo's grin had grown even wider as he stared up at the machine. "We've beaten bigger things than that shitty junk heap. This'll be easy!"

"Bakugo's right. Besides, we're training to be heroes; it's our job to protect people." Shoto turned to his classmate. "Think you can distract it?"

"Distract it? I'm going to murder the damn robot."

"Then let's go."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

Bakugo blasted himself into the air, the explosions from his palms rocketing him toward the machine. As soon as he lifted off, Shoto stomped his right foot onto the ground, causing a narrow sheet of ice to race out toward the area the robot had blasted. He glanced behind him at Tongo, whose face had dropped in surprise, and said, "Get the others out of here."

As the words left his mouth, he took off skating down the path. Ahead of him, an explosion blossomed on the side of the machine, causing it to wobble and knocking its next laser off target. '_Good, Bakugo's got its attention. Let's find whoever it was chasing.'_ He forced himself to go faster, creating more ice and using it to push himself forward.

Within moments, he was passing the site of the first explosion. Dirt and rocks had been tossed everywhere from the blast, which had formed a small crater. He shifted a little of his ice to sweep over the area, putting out the little fires that remained from the blast. He didn't take much more time to investigate the crater, though; ahead of him, he could see the remains of a small building of some sort, with the Guardian flying around overhead. He stopped pushing with his ice and allowed himself to slide to a stop in front of the ruin. His right side twitched, and he winced in pain.

'_Damn, I overused my ice between this and the fight earlier.' _He let his fire ignite a little and could feel his body relaxing. He couldn't wait until he was fully recovered though. Shoto could hear Bakugo taunting the Guardian above him, but knew that he would probably need a break soon, too. He stepped into what remained of the small hut and looked around, immediately spotting what the robot had been chasing.

A small man wearing an outfit that looked like it was a few sizes too small was huddled next to a giant backpack in the shape of a beetle. The man looked up as Shoto stepped in, and his eyes went wide. "What are you doing here? Get away before the Guardian gets you!"

"It's all right. My friend is keeping it busy. We've come to get you out of here."

Before the man could respond, another explosion from above shook the remnants of the building, followed by a loud crash somewhere outside. Before Shoto could look, Bakugo flew through the door and tumbled to a stop, panting.

"Did you kill it?" Shoto asked.

"No, I just blew the rotors off the damn thing! Shit's made out of something that's blast resistant; my explosions barely scratched it."

"That's because you have to hit its weak point."

Both of the UA students turned toward the man and his strange backpack. "What weak point?" Bakugo growled, explosions popping from his hands. "Weren't you listening? I blew up the entire damn robot and barely blew it out of the sky. And who the hell are you?"

The man frowned at Bakugo. "That's hardly the attitude a hero in training should have. To answer your questions, I am Beedle, a traveling merchant. As for the Guardians, it is common knowledge that their weak point is their eye."

Shoto's eyes narrowed as the man's words registered. "How did you—"

"There will be time for explanations _after_ the Guardian is taken care of. For now, know that your friends are all right and that I've been looking for you."

With that, the merchant turned back to his pack and continued rummaging through it. Shoto could feel Bakugo tense up next to him, and he reached out to grab the blond's arm. "Leave it. Let's figure out the machine first."

"I told you not to tell me what to do, Icy-Hot!" Despite his protest, Bakugo followed him out through a broken wall and around the building. The two cautiously approached the side of the building that the machine had fallen on and peered around. Shoto quickly spotted it, and he realized just how important it was to destroy it. The Guardian had come to rest on the top of a small rise that overlooked the main road that ran from the canyon to Taban. Purple-red light pulsed across its body as it slowly scanned the landscape. Its winged head twitched back and forth before turning to face the two boys. As it saw them, the purple light ceased pulsing and began to glow brightly, and a thin beam of red light shot out from its eye and began to trace circles on Shoto's chest.

As soon as the tracer light appeared, Bakugo yanked Shoto back behind the wall of the house. "We need to wait for a minute until the damn robot forgets about us. It doesn't take long for it to lock on to you."

Shoto glanced at him. "I could step out and freeze it. That might take it out."

"Or it could leave it as a problem for some unsuspecting traveler!"

"Do you have any better ideas? If your explosions couldn't puncture it, then my ice certainly won't. I can push it fast, but not that fast. I'd probably end up knocking it over."

Bakugo swore again under his breath before stalking away. Shoto let him go and turned back to the problem at hand. They needed to hit the thing in the eye, probably with a large amount of force. He could push his ice along pretty quickly, but only in sheets or blocks. He hadn't quite gotten to the point where he could send out a wave of ice spikes fast enough to puncture metal. His fire probably wouldn't help at all in the situation either, if Bakugo's lack of effectiveness was anything to go by. He examined the problem from a couple of different angles, but couldn't see any way out of it. '_I can't spear it. The most I'd be able to do is knock the damn thing ov—'_

Shoto's breath caught as the inklings of a plan formed in his mind. He looked up to search for Bakugo, only to find the blond staring back at him. "You look like you've just had a revelation of some sort," Bakugo said. "So, spill the beans."

"More like the beginnings of one. You used your quirk to launch that ball during Aizawa's test. Can you do that with other things?"

Bakugo's eyes narrowed. "Of course I can. Same basic principle, really."

Shoto nodded and triggered his quirk, focusing on shaping the ice into a spear-like shape a few centimeters thick. Once it was long enough, he used his fire to melt through the base enough to snap off the rest, leaving him with an icicle spear about a meter long. "The two big problems that I kept running up against were that the Guardian's eye only stops moving when it's going to fire, and that nothing you or I can do at the moment can penetrate its armor. The most I can do is knock it over, which—"

"Which would keep its head from moving since its got those stupid wing things on it." Bakugo nodded, stepping forward and yanking the spear out of Shoto's hand. "Once it's knocked over, I fly over and blast this thing into its eye." He hefted the spear in his hand for a moment before smirking. "You're a crazy bastard, Todoroki. You know that?"

Shoto felt his lips twitch upwards in a small smile. "I have been told that, yes. Mostly by you, I think."

"You deserve it, you Icy-Hot bastard." Bakugo hefted the spear a couple more times. "Before we start, make this a bit thicker. Enough of it needs to survive the blast to kill the stupid thing."

Shoto complied, and within moments, the two were ready. He nodded at Bakugo, whose face was covered with the same manic grin that appeared every time he fought, before he stepped out. Immediately, the Guardian turned back toward him, its tracer light blinking into existence. He tried not to focus on it as he slammed his foot down and channeled his quirk, sending a wave of ice rocketing toward the machine. Within moments, the ice reached his target, and he willed it to surge upwards, knocking the machine backwards into the dirt. A rush of hot air washed over Shoto as Bakugo launched himself over the uneven wall of ice, his manic grin stretched across his face. "Take this, you metal bastard!" he shouted as he jumped over the final barrier and pointed the icicle spear at the robot. "DIE!"

_FSCHEEW!_

_CRUMPT!_

The projectile rocketed downward, disappearing behind the ice wall. Bakugo leapt down as something exploded, sending smoke and chips of ice into the air, and together the two waited for the smoke to clear. When it finally did, Shoto used his quirk to create a platform beneath his feet, raising him into the air in order to examine the aftermath of their combined assault.

What was left of the icicle was embedded into the robot's eye. The area around the impact site was blackened, though whether from an energy overload or from Bakugo's explosions, he couldn't tell. Whichever the case may have been, the plan had worked; the last of the purple-red light faded, leaving the machine a dull, inert mass of scrap metal.

"Yeah, take that you damn pile of junk!"

Shoto glanced over and realized that Bakugo had climbed up beside him. "Yeah, it looks like we did it."

Bakugo went silent as he looked over at Shoto. After a moment, he nodded to himself. "I still think I would have killed it eventually, but… good job. That plan seemed like something that idiot Deku would come up with."

'_Guess that's all the acknowledgment I'm gonna get.'_ Shoto nodded back and turned to face the ruined building. After a few more moments, the merchant they had saved stumbled out of the building, his abnormal backpack forcing him to bend at odd angles to get through the door. When Beedle finally made it through, his jaw dropped as he stared up at the two of them and the fallen machine. "Beedle heard the yells, but didn't expect to see that things had gone so well. Did you destroy it?"

"It's out of commission," Shoto said as he lowered himself to the ground.

"Not that that's what you should be concerned about." Bakugo leapt down and stalked over to the merchant. "Now, start talking. How the hell did you know that we were looking for the extras that pass for our classmates?"

Shoto saw something flash in Beedle's eye, and when the merchant responded, his voice was tight. "Beedle recommends you work on your attitude, Bakugo Katsuki. It is hardly fitting for a hero."

"How did you—"

"I did promise you an explanation, and Beedle is a man of his word." Beedle ignored Bakugo's sputters and fiddled with a flap on his backpack for a moment before producing a small piece of paper. "Now, am I correct in assuming that you are Todoroki Shoto?" Shoto just nodded, and the man continued. "Good. Beedle had thought as much, but I wanted to be sure. I met your classmate Midoriya Izuku and his mentor All Might; they are currently traveling with the Hylian Champion Link to Kakariko Town, though Beedle doesn't think that they'll stay there for very long."

Shoto felt his lips curving upwards as he smiled at the man. "So they're all right?"

"Oh, yes, they're perfectly fine. They asked me to keep an eye out for you and your other classmates and to direct you toward the Dueling Peaks Stable."

He breathed a sigh of relief. While he had been glad to find his classmate and that he was no longer in the League of Villains' custody, the prospect of a potential lifetime of just him and Bakugo had woken him in a cold sweat a few nights ago. It was something that he wanted to avoid at all costs.

After a few seconds of thinking, he registered something that Beedle had said. "Wait, where is the Dueling Peaks Stable? Is it far?"

"Just one moment."

Beedle dug around in the front pockets of his bag some more, mumbling to himself about needing to sort the entire thing, before finally extracting a roll of parchment that he unraveled to reveal a fairly detailed, if primitive, map. As he and Bakugo leaned in to see, Beedle flipped the map around toward them and tapped a point on the upper left portion of the map. "This is where Taban is…" He paused, tracing his finger across the map and eventually stopping at a spot a little right of the center. "…and this is where the Dueling Peaks are."

'_That's so far away!'_

Bakugo echoed his thoughts. "That's halfway across the damn country!"

"Indeed. The journey is made longer by the fact that the roads through the center of Hyrule field aren't safe to cross." Beedle tapped a large, green area of the map. "Monsters and Guardians have claimed this region. The few settlements and outposts are like Taban, stables and villages that have sprung up in sheltered locations along the region's borders."

"If the 'monsters' in the area are anything like the trash we disposed of earlier, that won't be a problem," Bakugo growled.

Shoto nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything as he followed the road from Taban with his eyes. After a few moments, he looked up at the merchant. "How long would it take to make it to the Dueling Peaks from here?"

"Two, maybe three weeks, Beedle thinks."

"And if we cut straight across through the trash?"

Beedle glanced up at Bakugo, and Shoto did as well. Bakugo was staring at the merchant, his eyes blazing pits of intensity. "Well, merchant man? How long if we were to cut straight across?"

The merchant shook his head. "A week, maybe ten days."

"Then that's the route we take."

"I agree," Shoto said. "At this point, the wisest thing we can do is reunite with the others. We're more likely to find them if we head in that direction. Though I do want to take a detour on our way back."

That caught Bakugo's attention. "What sort of detour could an idiot like you who's only been in this world for a week possibly want to make?"

Shoto tapped an area on the map to the south of them. It depicted a round, ruined arena a little ways away from the main road. "I found a monster that I had to retreat from when I first woke up. Now that I know what I'm up against, I want a rematch."

* * *

And yet another chapter that was supposed to be from a few different viewpoints but ended up just being the one. It was fun to write, and I'm looking forward to finding out how some of the other kids react to their first encounters with Guardians. Shout out to Evil Angel on Discord, who edited this chapter and pointed out a bunch of details that didn't quite line up.

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed it. Next chapter might be a bit delayed, as my next semester of university starts up next week, and I don't know what my homework load will look like yet. So until next time!


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